IDF blows up Hezbollah's underground drone fortress in south Lebanon, two days after ceasefire framework
Operation Closing Verse destroyed a 200-metre, 25-metre-deep tunnel beneath Majdal Zoun village packed with hundreds of weapons and four launch shafts aimed at Israel; Hezbollah called it a ceasefire violation, the US had been notified in advance
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Summary
Israeli forces blew up a Hezbollah underground drone assembly and launch complex beneath the southern Lebanese village of Majdal Zoun on Sunday night in an operation codenamed Closing Verse. The tunnel extended more than 200 metres and was buried more than 25 metres underground, holding hundreds of weapons, dozens of dismantled drone components, warheads, explosives and four launch shafts angled toward Israeli territory. The IDF's 551st Brigade Combat Team and Yahalom combat engineering unit carried out the demolition; the controlled blast was heard across the northern Galilee and triggered earthquake alert systems. Prime Minister Netanyahu and Defence Minister Katz announced the operation jointly. Israel notified the United States and its representative in Lebanon before the strike. Hezbollah condemned it as a "flagrant ceasefire violation."
Why it matters
The operation came two days after Israel, Lebanon and the United States signed a trilateral security framework on June 26, the same framework that Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem had publicly rejected. Israel pre-notified Washington but did not seek approval, and the blast establishes that the IDF intends to retain freedom of action inside Lebanon regardless of the framework's status, complicating the already fragile ceasefire track.