BEIRUT — Israel has claimed that its military has destroyed Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure at a key site in southern Lebanon in an operation that consolidated its so-called security zone.In a joint statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that Israeli forces would remain on Ali Al-Taher ridge to prevent Hezbollah from re-establishing its presence and rebuilding its capabilities.The two Israeli officials described the site as a strategic network built over two decades with Iranian funding and planning.They said it included a command center and other infrastructure intended to support a potential Hezbollah operation into Israel’s Galilee region, while providing observation and fire-control capabilities over the northern Israeli communities of Metulla and Kiryat Shmona.The statement said the destruction of the network gave Israeli forces operational control of the Ali Al-Taher ridge both above and below ground.The Ali al-Taher ridge, about 15 km from the Israeli border, has become one of the most contested areas of the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Katz claimed last Friday that Israeli forces had driven Hezbollah fighters out of what he said was a network of tunnels ⁠⁠under the disputed highland.The Israeli military said a central command complex belonging to Hezbollah’s Badr unit was located within the underground infrastructure. The complex contained command centres, weapons storage rooms and living quarters that allowed fighters to remain underground for extended periods, it said.Reuters reported that Hezbollah is believed to have built an underground command centre and weapons stores there in July, quoting unnamed Lebanese security sources.Lebanon’s National News Agency said that the Israeli military carried out a powerful blast at the ridge, with tremors and the sound of the explosion felt across Nabatieh and surrounding areas in southern Lebanon.