Israel causes small earthquake by destroying tunnels in Lebanon

Ojournalists from the agency France-Presse (AFP) in the region have heard several detonations. In a video shared by Israel’s Defense Minister, Israel Katz, you can see a huge ball of fire rising toward the sky at night.

“The Israeli army today destroyed the underground infrastructure of the terrorist organization Hezbollah on Ali Taher’s crest, thus concluding the establishment of the security zone in southern Lebanon,” said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Katz in a statement.

“ This is a strategic terrorist infrastructure built over two decades, with Iranian funding and planning,” they added.

The explosion was so powerful that the U.S. seismology agency (USGS), a world reference for earthquake detection, experienced a magnitude 4.1 tremor that occurred at 19:00 (Lisbon time) in the Nabatiyeh region, where the crest of Ali Taher lies.

This quake, equivalent to a small earthquake, was felt by many inhabitants of southern Lebanon.

In Lebanon, the National Information Agency (ANI) reported a detonation operation carried out by Israeli forces in the Ali al-Taher sector.

The Israeli army had announced last week that this area would be taken north of the Litani River and on the edge of the area occupied by Israel in southern Lebanon.

Israel claims that Hezbollah had dug tunnels in this sector, allowing it to launch drones and missiles against Israeli military positions in southern Lebanon as well as against northern Israel, across the border.

Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the regional war in March in solidarity with Iran, but violence declined in intensity after the understanding between Iran and the United States in June, in parallel with an agreement between Lebanon and Israel.

During the negotiations between Lebanon and Israel, the United States, mediators of the talks, proposed that the Lebanese army take control of Ali Taher's mountain range, but Hezbollah refused, according to AFP a source close to the negotiators.