Israel Claims Control of Ali al-Taher

The Israeli military announced Thursday that it had "completed the clearing of two Hezbollah underground infrastructures on the Ali al-Taher ridge" in southern Lebanon, stating that "its forces are now working to neutralize them."

Quoted by the Jerusalem Post and on its X account, the Israeli military specified that "the forces of the 36th Division have operated in the area over recent weeks and have taken operational control of the ridge, both above and below ground. During the operation, the area was cleared of Hezbollah fighters who had been deployed there — some were killed while others fled."

Sources also indicated that no Iranian personnel were found in the tunnels, despite experts claiming that at least a dozen members of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps were entrenched there alongside Hezbollah fighters.

The Post reports that, according to the military, these infrastructures were built over a period of approximately twenty years and were planned and financed by Iran.

Illustration generated from the topographic relief of the Ali al-Taher region.

Additionally, according to information revealed by Reuters, Iran had warned the United States against an Israeli strike on the Ali al-Taher site.

This underscores how deeply Tehran remains involved in the front opened by Hezbollah, its ally, against Israel since March 2.

Israel releases five Lebanese nationals, holds three others

Thursday began with an unusual Israeli operation, carried out relatively far from the occupied zone, in the village of Houla, in Hasbaya, in the south of the country.

Israeli troops infiltrated the village and detained three of its residents after surrounding several homes and preventing their occupants from evacuating, according to the National News Agency.

The detainees were taken into Israeli territory, according to witnesses cited by the agency.

This latest Israeli violation — added to the multiple explosions triggered Thursday by its military at various points across the south — did not overshadow the day's other surprise: Israel's announcement of the release of five Lebanese prisoners held in its jails, all arrested either during the current conflict, which began March 2, or the previous one in 2023–2024.

One young man was indeed released Thursday and handed over to the Lebanese army at the Naqoura border crossing. According to the local outlet al-Modon, the release of four other Lebanese nationals was reportedly postponed to Friday.

"I wouldn't call it a war"

Regarding the conflict with Iran, U.S. Vice President JD Vance said Thursday that the hostilities — which are stirring discontent among a segment of American voters ahead of important midterm elections — did not constitute "a war," while also asserting that passage through the Strait of Hormuz had "almost" returned to normal.

While, according to the Wall Street Journal, President Donald Trump is reportedly considering simply declaring the conflict over, the Vice President sought to downplay the hostilities during a press conference at the White House. "I wouldn't call it a war. Right now, there is no exchange of fire," he said, even as the United States has struck Iranian targets twice in recent days.

One of those strikes, which Iran has vowed to avenge, killed four people at a wedding.

"Iranian state media has not really reported reliably on what has happened in this conflict so far, so I am extremely skeptical about that," JD Vance said in response to a question about the strike, adding that the United States was nonetheless conducting "a thorough investigation."

"We have great control over the Strait of Hormuz. We are moving 30 to 40 ships through per night," Donald Trump assured in an interview with British conservative channel GB News, broadcast on Thursday.

Finally, the ultimate sign that the war in the Middle East is far from over: according to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Department of Defense has quietly extended the deployment of 50,000 troops stationed in the region.

Iranian strikes on Kuwait and the UAE

On the ground, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps announced that, during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, they carried out strikes against "American targets" in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.

In a statement, the Pasdaran claimed to have targeted "using missiles and drones, the satellite communication systems, equipment depots, and fighter jet hangars of the American military at Ahmad al-Jaber Air Base in Kuwait."

In the United Arab Emirates, it was the American radar systems at al-Minhad Air Base that were targeted.