"Imad 4": Secrets of the Facility That Sparked the "Ali al-Taher" Battles

The battles that took place in recent weeks around Ali al-Taher hill in southern Lebanon, nor the repeated strikes targeting its surroundings, were not merely an attempt to control a strategic height or destroy weapons depots belonging to Hezbollah, according to exclusive information obtained by "Erem News" from a Lebanese security source.

The source said the real goal was to reach what is known within the party as the "Imad 4 facility," a massive military complex buried beneath the hill, housing a complex network of tunnels, a command and control center for the Badr Division, in addition to warehouses for drones and missiles, in one of the most fortified military structures the party built in southern Lebanon.

The security source says Israel bombed the tunnel entrances since 2024, but it was unable to reach parts of the internal structure until the past month, after the operation shifted from aerial targeting to an attempt to directly access the underground complex, which explains the ferocity of the battles witnessed in the region.

More than a hill.. A node controlling southern Lebanon

Ali al-Taher hill holds both strategic and symbolic importance. It was one of the last positions from which Israeli forces withdrew in May 2000, and it overlooks the main axes leading to the city of Nabatieh, which is the center of logistical and military gravity and the main popular base for Hezbollah in the south.

According to the security source, controlling the area extending from "Ali al-Taher" to Shaqif Castle means possessing an operational advantage over the road network connecting southern villages to the Nabatieh surroundings, which made it a fixed target in recent operations.

He adds that the battles were not easy, as Israeli forces suffered human losses, most notably the killing of Lieutenant Colonel Gidaliya Ben Samhon, commander of the 52nd Battalion of the 401st Brigade, during operations aimed at reaching the complex located beneath the hill.

"Air base" underground

The security source confirms that what was discovered inside the complex exceeded the expectations of the attacking forces, as, according to his account, large quantities of drones, missiles, ammunition, and operating systems were found, prompting Israeli military officials to liken the facility to the "Ramat David" air base in northern Israel, and consider it a "full-fledged air base" for Hezbollah.

The source points out that the facility consists of several interconnected tunnels, including a main tunnel over one kilometer long, all excavated within high-density rock layers at great depths, giving it a high capacity to withstand aerial strikes.

He adds that the depth of the tunnels has not been precisely determined yet, but estimates indicate they are deeper and more complex than the tunnels discovered in "Majdal Zoun," which reached a depth of about 25 meters, making their destruction from the air extremely difficult, even using bunker-busting bombs.

"The nerve center" of the Badr Division

The source says the "Imad 4" facility was not just a weapons storage, but formed the command and control center for the Badr Division, responsible for managing military operations in the Nabatieh sector and its surroundings.

According to the information provided by the security source to "Erem News," about 200 members of the Badr Division remained trapped inside parts of the complex during recent operations, while large parts of the facility, according to the source, remain outside full control, meaning its true size and contents have not been fully revealed yet.

The source believes that the complexity of the tunnel network beneath Ali al-Taher far exceeds many of the networks that appeared in the Gaza Strip, whether in terms of extent, interconnection, or level of fortification, which explains the battle shifting from targeting tunnel entrances with bombardment to attempting to reach them on the ground.

Why did "Ali al-Taher" become a priority?

The security source concludes that the battle on Ali al-Taher hill was not aimed at destroying a missile depot or launch platform, but at striking the command structure that managed an important aspect of Hezbollah's operations in southern Lebanon for years.

If these data are correct, then the "Imad 4" facility represents one of the most important military nodes the party sought to protect, while the battle around it reveals that the confrontation has shifted from targeting the military arsenal to attempting to paralyze the command and control centers upon which Hezbollah's military structure is based.