A cell of Hezbollah operatives identified near Israeli troops in southern Lebanon was targeted in an airstrike, the Israel Defense Forces said Sunday, as its top officer warned the military is ready to go on the offensive if the terror group violates a recent ceasefire arrangement.

The military said troops of the Commando Brigade spotted the operatives riding motorcycles in the village of al-Aaqaide, near Nabatieh and close to Israel’s self-declared security zone.

“The terrorists’ activity posed a threat to our forces,” the military said, adding that they were struck “to remove the threat.”

Lebanese media had reported an Israeli airstrike between Kfar Tebnit and Nabatieh al-Fawqa, near the Ali Taher ridge in southern Lebanon.

The military has previously said it continues to operate at the Ali Taher ridge, beneath which the Iran-backed Hezbollah has a massive underground complex, where some 30 operatives are holed up.

The military has said it will “not allow Hezbollah terrorists to exit the underground tunnel network or move in the area of the ridge.”

غارة إسرائيلية استهدفت منطقة النبطية الفوقا جنوب لبنان pic.twitter.com/BTMyBcqqTN — هنا لبنان (@thisislebnews) July 5, 2026

غارة إسرائيلية استهدفت منطقة النبطية الفوقا جنوب لبنان pic.twitter.com/BTMyBcqqTN

— هنا لبنان (@thisislebnews) July 5, 2026

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir toured the Beaufort Castle area in southern Lebanon during the morning, including a major Hezbollah tunnel system built beneath the ridge, the military reported.

Zamir said the Beaufort Ridge is a strategic area that is “saturated with terror infrastructure,” according to remarks provided by the IDF.

“The Hezbollah terror organization, financed and directed by Iran, built underground routes in the area over the course of decades to threaten the northern communities. Our forces now control the key terrain aboveground and these underground routes belowground,” he said.

Zamir said that the Lebanese........

© The Times of Israel