BEIRUT, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Ali al-Taher Hill in southern Lebanon has emerged as a key flashpoint in the ongoing Israeli military operations in the country, with intensified artillery shelling, airstrikes and drone attacks reported around the strategic heights even following the latest round of negotiations between Israel and Lebanon in Rome.
According to Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA), the hill has come under near-daily Israeli artillery fire and airstrikes, while Israeli drones have periodically dropped explosive materials in the area, triggering fires in surrounding wooded areas.
Over the past 24 hours, the hill and surrounding areas had been subjected to hours of heavy Israeli artillery fire, followed by drone strikes, while shelling also hit several towns and areas around the southern city of Nabatieh, according to the NNA and local witnesses.
A Lebanese military source monitoring developments in southern Lebanon told Xinhua that Israeli forces have established a "fire cordon" around the heights, targeting movements approaching the area and making access to the hill and surrounding routes highly dangerous.
The renewed escalation has brought the hill to the forefront of military developments in southern Lebanon, amid repeated Israeli claims that its operations in the area are targeting military positions and infrastructure belonging to Hezbollah.
Located at an elevation of about 600 meters, the hill overlooks Nabatieh and other areas in southern Lebanon, with a line of sight extending toward parts of Sidon and other locations.
Lebanon-based political researcher Ali Darbaj said that the hill is one of the most strategically significant highlands in southern Lebanon because of its commanding view over a wide area, making it important for surveillance and military movements.
Darbaj said the area has retained military significance through different stages of the conflict in southern Lebanon. He noted that its strategic character was reinforced during the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon from 1982 until the withdrawal in 2000, when fortifications and military facilities were established nearby and the hill was used for surveillance.
Political analyst Nidal Issa said that the escalation coincides with the U.S.-mediated Lebanese-Israeli negotiations addressing security arrangements along the southern border and the role of the Lebanese army in the area.
Issa added that the overlap has made Ali al-Taher a point where military developments and the political track converge, although this does not necessarily indicate a direct link between individual military operations and the negotiations.
Earlier this month, Israeli and Lebanese officials finished three days of negotiations in Rome aimed at advancing security arrangements along their border and implementing a framework agreement reached in Washington in late June, media reported. The talks, opposed by Hezbollah, are the seventh round of negotiations between the two governments. ■
