Iran’s semi-official Fars News Agency, which is close to the Revolutionary Guard, has denied reports suggesting that members of the Revolutionary Guard had been trapped in the tunnels of the Ali al-Taher ridge in south Lebanon prior to Israel’s seizure of the strategic area.

The agency clarified that the two tunnels in Ali al-Taher contained 48 Hezbollah operatives during the battles for control of the hill, noting that eight of the Lebanese fighters were killed.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has stressed that Israel will not leave the so-called security zone, nor will it withdraw or redeploy its forces in southern Lebanon, until Hezbollah is disarmed across the country.

In a statement, Katz noted that the Ali al-Taher heights are part of the "Yellow Line" and the Israeli security zone in Lebanon, explaining that the Israeli army has prepared to prevent any attempt by Hezbollah -- or any other party -- to return to the Ali al-Taher ridge.

Free Patriotic Movement chief Gebran Bassil on Monday marked on his X platform account the 44th anniversary of the assassination of president-elect Bashir Gemayel.

“Bashir was martyred because he refused encroachment on Lebanon the 10,452 square kilometers, and this is also our cause,” Bassil added.

President Joseph Aoun on Sunday marked the the 44th anniversary of the assassination of president-elect Bachir Gemayel by saying that "he fell to the bullets of treachery before assuming his constitutional duties, ascending as a martyr upon the altar of the nation."

Israeli army chief Eyal Zamir visited the 36th Division area on Friday together with the chief of the northern command after the Israeli army blew up the Hezbollah tunnels of the strategic Ali Taher ridge.

“After the Hamas attack on October 7, it was Hezbollah that initiated and launched the war against Israel on the northern front. Hezbollah is fighting and destroying Lebanon on behalf of the Iranian regime,” Zamir said.

The U.S. Treasury Department announced that it has taken action against entities and individuals that support Lebanon’s Hezbollah and Iraq’s Kata’ib Hezbollah.

In a statement, the Treasury charged that the two groups “fuel Iran’s destabilizing influence in the Middle East, endanger U.S. and partner forces, and facilitate extensive sanctions evasion schemes.”

Joelle Fares, who recently moved to Marjayoun, was sitting there Thursday when "everything shook". Israel said it was demolishing key tunnels built by Hezbollah beneath the strategic Ali al-Taher ridge in southern Lebanon. The explosions triggered a 4.1 magnitude tremor and rocks from the detonation completely blocked the Khardali road.

Elsewhere on the border, Israeli forces also carried out violent detonations in al-Mansouri, al-Khiam and Baraashit. Strikes targeted overnight into Friday al-Qantara, al-Mansouri, Harees, Nabatieh al-Fawqa, and Wadi Zebqine, and artillery shelled Wadi al-Hujair.

Speaker Nabih Berri has stated that "the situation is dangerous" in south Lebanon and "solutions remain far off," noting that "the framework agreement has fallen."

"If the Israelis want to occupy, they can do so," Berri added, in remarks to al-Joumhouria newspaper.

President Joseph Aoun stated Thursday that the Lebanese state has "received the appeals of our people in Nabatieh, Tyre and Arab Salim.”

“I wish to tell them: We have heeded your calls and stand by your side; we certainly cannot remain distant from you. We must exert every effort to support and assist you, and to secure the essentials for your resilience to the greatest extent possible,” Aoun said during a cabinet session.

MP Ali Ammar of Hezbollah on Thursday responded to a statement released by the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, lamenting that “day by day, the United States’ blatant interference in Lebanese affairs is intensifying and Lebanon’s sovereignty is crudely violated -- whether through statements from the U.S. Embassy in Beirut or provocative remarks by its ambassador.”

“It is as if someone has appointed themselves guardian over Lebanon, imposing conditions and paths, categorizing its people and political forces, and dictating its choices and orientations,” Ammar said.