A 600-metre ridge above the Litani: three dead in Lebanon, and "allegedly" Iranian officers underground too

At least three killed and 23 wounded in Israeli strikes on southern and eastern Lebanon overnight. That is the figure released by Lebanon's health ministry. What has not been released - and is already circulating in the media - is that the targets allegedly included senior Iranian officers in tunnels beneath a ridge whose name nobody outside the region knows: Ali al-Tahir.

The strikes hit five locations: the Tyre and Nabatieh regions in the south and the Bekaa in the east. How many of the casualties were fighters and how many civilians has not been specified. That "not specified" is the sentence repeated after every strike like this, in every war, on every continent. And it always means the same thing: somebody knows the numbers, but later.

A 600-metre ridge worth more than a city

The strikes were, according to sources, retaliation for a Hezbollah drone attack on Israeli troops operating in the security zone of southern Lebanon, in the area of that very ridge. Six hundred metres above sea level, directly above the Litani river. Not an impressive number until you understand what can be seen from there.

And from there you see all of southeastern Lebanon - and northern Israel, the so-called Galilee Panhandle. Whoever holds the ridge looks into both back yards. That is what people die for up there, not because there is anything on the summit.

Beneath the ridge itself, it is claimed, sat a strong Hezbollah stronghold, primarily in underground tunnels - a massive complex built over decades, serving as the main command centre of the regional "Badr" division. Decades. Which means the digging went on while the world was looking elsewhere, and it is now being destroyed while the world is looking here.

Unverified information first published by an international agency claims that inside, alongside Hezbollah fighters, there were more than ten members of Iran's Revolutionary Guard and at least two senior Iranian officers. If that is confirmed, then last night's strikes were not only against a Lebanese organisation - but directly against an Iranian command on Lebanese soil. The difference is enormous, and it still hangs on the word "allegedly".

In the Balkans we know what a hill above a village means. We also know what it means when someone explains to you that there is nobody up there. The question is when somebody will publish the names and the numbers instead of letting them "leak" - and whether anybody intends to at all.