Washington has rejected an Israeli request for a large-scale military operation targeting the Ali al-Taher ridge and surrounding areas in southern Lebanon, according to senior U.S. diplomatic sources cited by Erem News.

The sources said Washington had told Israel not to go beyond what they described as the “strategic parameters” for military operations in southern Lebanon agreed during the latest meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.

The reported U.S. intervention comes as Israel is believed to be preparing for a broader, coordinated operation against the Ali al-Taher ridge, an area that has emerged as a major flashpoint in the confrontation with Hezbollah. Israeli forces have intensified activity around the ridge in recent days, with the military saying the area contains a major underground Hezbollah command center.

According to the sources, U.S. officials have warned Israeli counterparts that expanding an operation around Ali al-Taher to nearby villages and other parts of southern Lebanon could jeopardize Washington-sponsored negotiations between Beirut and Tel Aviv.

They also warned that a wider offensive could provide Iran with a “pretext” to take military action against Israel, either directly or through its regional allies.

A senior U.S. diplomat close to the White House told Erem News that the administration was holding contacts with Israel at several levels, including with military officials and Netanyahu, in an effort to ensure that Israel did not breach the understanding reached with Trump in Washington.

The understanding, the diplomat said, was based on allowing Israel to continue targeting Hezbollah and gradually eroding its military capabilities through strikes of varying intensity, but stopping short of a major ground offensive that could reignite the southern front.

The reported U.S. position comes amid a sharp increase in violence around Ali al-Taher. Israel launched intensive strikes across southern Lebanon on Saturday after saying Hezbollah had attacked Israeli troops in the area. Lebanese authorities reported that at least 11 people were killed and 19 wounded in the strikes, including women and children.

Washington considers a large-scale assault on the ridge to carry consequences beyond Lebanon, the source said. It could push Tehran away from negotiations and potentially open another regional front at a time when Iranian allies remain active, particularly in Yemen and Iraq.

The United States has therefore asked Israel to keep operations against Hezbollah positions around the highlands focused on airstrikes and military pressure, rather than extending them into populated villages and wider areas of southern Lebanon, according to the source.

The reported U.S. pressure has coincided with what Lebanese and Israeli sources describe as a gradual widening of Israeli military activity in the south.

Israeli officials have linked the intensified operations to Hezbollah positions around Ali al-Taher, including what Israel says are command structures and military installations.

The Israeli military has also announced the killing of senior Hezbollah commander Ali Fakhr al-Din, known as Abu Hassan Alaa, whom it identified as a commander in Hezbollah’s Badr unit and accused of directing drone attacks against Israeli forces in southern Lebanon.

Israeli forces also targeted a commander from Hezbollah’s Radwan unit in the town of Ansar. The operation reflected what Lebanese sources described as the continuation of Israel’s targeted-assassination campaign beyond the areas where direct fighting is taking place.

Why Ali al-Taher matters

A Lebanese military source familiar with the area told Erem News that the strategic importance of Ali al-Taher goes beyond its elevated geographic position and is closely tied to what lies beneath the ridge.

The heights overlook large parts of Iqlim al-Tuffah and the Nabatieh region, as well as the Litani River valley stretching toward the western Bekaa. Their elevation also provides views toward parts of Israeli territory.

But the source said the more significant factor was underground.

The ridge contains tunnels and what the source described as strategic Hezbollah facilities, effectively turning it into a fortified military complex. These reportedly include command rooms, weapons and ammunition depots and other underground installations.

The source also claimed that Iranian Revolutionary Guard experts and officers have worked at the site alongside Hezbollah commanders.

The underground infrastructure, according to the source, could allow Hezbollah to direct military operations across a broad area of southern Lebanon and operate missile-launch systems aimed at Israel.

That combination of high ground and underground infrastructure helps explain why the site has assumed increasing importance in Israeli military planning.

Ali al-Taher is part of a chain of strategic heights in southern Lebanon, including the Dabsheh ridge, that together provide commanding positions over large parts of the region.

Reported Iranian presence raises stakes

The reported presence of Iranian Revolutionary Guard personnel has further increased the ridge's importance, according to the Lebanese military source.

The issue has gained additional attention after Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said Tehran remained in contact with fighters on the “front lines” in Lebanon.

Ghalibaf acknowledged maintaining communications with fighters on the Lebanese front, prompting Netanyahu to accuse Hezbollah of violating the ceasefire and using civilians as human shields in southern Lebanon.

A battle unlikely to be decided from the air

Retired Brigadier General Said al-Qozah, a Lebanese military expert, told Erem News that Israel was unlikely to accept the current situation at Ali al-Taher indefinitely because of the military significance the ridge represents for Hezbollah.

He said the timing of any Israeli operation could also intersect with domestic political calculations in Israel and Netanyahu’s interest in using military results to bolster his political position.

If Israel decides to launch a ground operation, Qozah said, the battle would be difficult to resolve through airpower alone.

“The battle cannot be decided from the air alone,” he said, arguing that achieving Israel’s objectives would ultimately require ground forces to penetrate the tunnel network and fortified underground installations.

Israeli commando units could play a central role in such an operation, particularly in penetrating tunnels and securing entrances and installations beneath the ridge.

Qozah said Israeli strikes that set fire to vegetation around the ridge also have a tactical purpose: removing natural cover that could be used for concealment, exposing possible tunnel entrances and creating breaches that could facilitate a future ground assault.

Qozah believes the Israeli calculations extend beyond Ali al-Taher itself.

The broader objective, he said, could be to open a route toward Iqlim al-Tuffah, which Israel considers one of Hezbollah’s most important military strongholds in Lebanon.

He argued that Tel Aviv does not attach the same priority to negotiations with Lebanon as it does to its military objectives, saying the negotiating process has largely advanced because of U.S. pressure.

Iqlim al-Tuffah, north of Ali al-Taher, would be the most important target in any potential Israeli expansion, Qozah said.

Reaching that stage, he argued, could inflict a major blow on much of Hezbollah’s remaining military capabilities.