IDF ground forces have moved across the Litani River to enter and secure the Beaufort Ridge along with Wadi al-Saluki zones in southern Lebanon, according to a military statement released Sunday morning.

The push started several days earlier and seeks to neutralize the danger Hezbollah presents to communities in northern Israel while broadening into further zones.

Before the soldiers advanced the Israel Air Force carried out wide ranging strikes on Hezbollah sites in the region.

Additional backing for the advancing units came from artillery and tank rounds.

The IDF also noted activity close to Nabatieh a key Hezbollah base in southern Lebanon and stands ready to widen efforts there.

Defense Minister Israel Katz praised the IDF success in reaching Beaufort Ridge via a Sunday post on X.

Forty four years after the storied fight for the Beaufort and on the day remembering those lost in the First Lebanon War including Golani Brigade troops who died in that battle IDF units under Golani leadership returned to the summit raised the Israeli flag and the Golani banner once more Katz wrote.

I commend the Golani fighters and every IDF soldier who added another page of Israeli valor at the site where our fallen gave their lives for the country he said adding that the effort continues and that forces remain committed to dismantling Hezbollah capabilities and securing safety for northern residents.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich described the capture of Beaufort Ridge as fixing past national errors and misguided views.

He added that he will keep pressing for lasting control of land and heightened military action.

For every explosive drone ten structures in Beirut must be hit he stated.

First IDF presence in Beaufort Ridge in 26 years

In the First Lebanon War of 1982 the IDF Golani Reconnaissance Unit seized the outpost from militants who had used it to fire rockets at the Galilee.

The IDF maintained the site until May 2000 when Israel pulled its troops from southern Lebanon under orders from then prime minister Ehud Barak.

That withdrawal triggered the fall of the South Lebanon Army and left a vacuum that Hezbollah exploited to rebuild its forces.