Israel is determined to seize the strategic Ali al-Taher hill in southern Lebanon and destroy its network of tunnels, regardless of the cost, a Lebanese security source told Nidaa al-Watan, as the military confrontation on the ground increasingly intersects with stalled Lebanese-Israeli negotiations.

The source said the fierce fighting around the hill was evidence that Israel was intent on taking control of the position and eliminating its underground infrastructure. Security assessments indicate that Israeli forces have been conducting operations in the area that have not been publicly acknowledged by the Israeli military, the source said.

According to the source, Israel began the operation without formally announcing it, suggesting that it is relying on a covert approach aimed at gradually dismantling Hezbollah's military infrastructure around the hill.

The source said Hezbollah and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps are in a difficult military position, particularly because their supply routes have been disrupted. Israeli forces control Ali al-Taher hill and its access points, he said, making the fall of the position potentially only a matter of time.

The battle for the hill comes as Lebanon and Israel remain deadlocked over the next phase of their negotiations. The process had been expected to pave the way for a gradual Israeli withdrawal and the establishment of new security arrangements, but Hezbollah's weapons have emerged as the central obstacle.

Beirut is preparing for an eighth round of negotiations, although no date has yet been set. Israel appears to be insisting that there can be no complete withdrawal or final settlement until weapons are placed exclusively under the authority of the Lebanese state.

The issue was discussed when President Joseph Aoun met with former ambassador Simon Karam, head of Lebanon's negotiating delegation, who briefed the president on the seventh round of U.S.-brokered talks in Rome and received his instructions for the next phase.

The central question facing Beirut is now what it can demonstrate on the ground regarding weapons outside state control and whether it can provide concrete guarantees to the security committee overseeing implementation of the framework agreement. The committee is expected to arrive in Beirut in the coming hours.

According to sources, U.S. pressure on Israel alone will not be enough to resolve the impasse. Washington can press Israel to withdraw from a second pilot zone and encourage the resumption of negotiations, but it cannot create the sovereign conditions Lebanon itself has yet to establish.

The dispute also extends beyond Hezbollah's weapons. Iran's presence in Lebanon, including the reported presence of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel around Ali al-Taher hill, as well as the facilities and tunnels there, could become part of any future bargaining process.

The hill's strategic importance makes the battle particularly significant. Its location links key areas of southern Lebanon and provides a position from which military movements and supply routes can be managed.

The security source's assessment suggests that Israel's objective is not limited to controlling the hill itself. By taking the position and dismantling its tunnels, Israel would also seek to prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding a network that could support the movement of fighters, weapons and supplies while remaining difficult to detect from the air.

That could have consequences well beyond the battlefield. If Israel succeeds in taking Ali al-Taher and dismantling its underground network, it would strengthen its position in negotiations over security arrangements and withdrawal, while placing additional pressure on Hezbollah and the Lebanese state.

For Beirut, the developments around the hill therefore present a dual challenge: containing the military escalation while demonstrating that the State can establish control over territory and weapons. For Israel, the fighting underscores its determination to prevent southern Lebanon from again becoming a base for Hezbollah's military infrastructure.