Hezbollah planted explosives at entrances and deeper positions around the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon as it withdrew missile systems and air-defense platforms after losing its central command-and-control facilities there, according to senior Lebanese military sources cited by Erem News.

The sources said the explosives were intended to prevent Israeli commando forces from taking control of a network of tunnels connected to the ridge and of underground passages leading to Hezbollah weapons and ammunition depots.

The measures were designed to prevent Israeli forces from breaching the main tunnels through remotely monitored systems, the sources said. They also could allow Hezbollah to return to positions it has lost at Ali al-Taher, where Israeli fire has forced the group's Badr forces to relocate and establish new positions, they said.

Lebanese military sources said Hezbollah was seeking to reposition along the Iqlim al-Tuffah axis north of the Litani River and conduct operations aimed at preventing Israel from advancing farther into Ali al-Taher or consolidating its control over the ridge.

The group is also seeking to avoid further casualties after losing operational control of Ali al-Taher by establishing new positions from which to confront Israel and prevent attempts to encircle its forces in parts of southern Lebanon in the coming days, the sources said.

A senior Lebanese military source told Erem News that Hezbollah had moved heavy military equipment through tunnels and underground extensions toward Iqlim al-Tuffah to establish what the source described as a new strategic node, giving the group greater military depth from which to seek to retake positions lost at Ali al-Taher.

The source said Hezbollah also moved command posts from Ali al-Taher to Iqlim al-Tuffah after it became clear that the ridge was close to falling, in an effort to reposition strategically and secure logistical supplies.

Retired Brig. Gen. Said al-Qozah, a strategic affairs expert, said Hezbollah had begun repositioning before Ali al-Taher fell.

He told Erem News that the group maintains positions on hills, in valleys and other locations across southern Lebanon, the western Bekaa and the Baalbek-Hermel region, areas he said are closely connected to its religious support base.

Fighters who withdrew from Ali al-Taher as the ridge fell gradually moved to other positions that had already been prepared, with different roles ranging from defense and offense to surveillance, al-Qozah noted.

He identified Iqlim al-Tuffah, Mount al-Rihan, Jabal al-Jarmak, the hills of Sajd and Wadi Kfarhouna in the Jezzine district as particularly important.

From a military and strategic standpoint, he said, those areas are more important than Ali al-Taher and Beaufort Castle.

Al-Qozah also said his assessment was consistent with reports of an indirect U.S.-Iranian understanding under which members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps would leave tunnels beneath Ali al-Taher while Israeli forces entered some of the group's positions without a major battle.

He said the area had not seen the fierce fighting that had been expected.

According to al-Qozah, the Israeli advance initially consisted largely of sustained bombardment, while an agreement was reached to provide a route for Revolutionary Guard personnel to leave the ridge and avoid being captured by Israeli forces.

Iran, he said, was active in facilitating the withdrawal of its personnel to prevent what he described as the “stigma of a heavy defeat,” even if Tehran ultimately abandoned Hezbollah.

The claim of an indirect U.S.-Iranian arrangement was presented by al-Qazah as an assessment and was not independently confirmed in the material.

Lebanese political researcher Nayef Azar described Hezbollah's loss of Ali al-Taher as a “twofold” setback — military and strategic on one level, and psychological for the organization and its support base on another.

Azar said Hezbollah had sought in recent days to play down the importance of Ali al-Taher after realizing that Israel was nearing operational control of the ridge.

That contrasted with the group's earlier emphasis on the importance of the area, which it had described weeks earlier as the site of an “all-out battle,” he said.

Following Israel's operational takeover, Hezbollah is expected to seek greater cover among civilians to protect its fighters, Azar said. He linked that possibility to the heavy Israeli bombardment of Nabatieh.

Israel's capture of Ali al-Taher has also raised the prospect of further advances toward Iqlim al-Tuffah and Mount al-Rihan. Reuters has described the ridge as a strategic link between southern border areas and Iqlim al-Tuffah, while its capture has increased pressure on Hezbollah amid stalled discussions over its disarmament.

Azar said the developments at Ali al-Taher could serve as a model for what may happen at other positions in southern Lebanon, particularly as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approaches Knesset elections.

He predicted a gradual escalation in the coming period, arguing that Netanyahu would seek to secure electoral gains as October approaches, amid opinion polls showing his political opponents gaining ground.

Azar said about 20% of Israelis live in the north and that 70% of them are dissatisfied with Netanyahu's policies and want him to escalate the war in Lebanon.

He added that most voters in northern Israel would regard any Israeli withdrawal before Hezbollah is fully disarmed as a major political setback for Netanyahu, whom he said was seeking to intensify the southern Lebanon front.