‘We’re finding weapons everywhere’: IDF completes deployment along ‘anti-tank missile line’ in southern Lebanon

Israeli troops have completed the capture of an 8-10 km (5-6 mile) deep strip of southern Lebanon and are now deployed along a ridge line running roughly parallel to the border, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Monday morning.

The Israeli military also said that a fifth division, the elite 98th Paratroopers Division, had joined the fighting against Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

“At this stage, IDF soldiers have completed their deployment along the anti-tank missile defense line and continue to operate in the area in order to strengthen the forward defensive posture and remove threats to the residents and communities of northern Israel.”

According to the IDF, its ground operations in southern Lebanon aimed to establish a forward position along a line of hills and ridges to deprive Hezbollah of the ability to fire anti-tank missiles into northern Israel.

Israeli ground operations in southern Lebanon - Map update and a detailed analysis (04.04.26):

After carefully assessing newly released sentinel 2 satellite imagery from April 4 (via @SoarAtlas and the copernicus data space ecosystem), new geolocations, and various reports with… pic.twitter.com/a51Vu4bzIX

— Lebanon Monitor (@LebMonitor1) April 6, 2026

In addition, Defense Minister Israel Katz has vowed not to allow residents of southern Lebanon to return to their homes until the threat from Hezbollah is completely removed, as the IDF continues to clear the entire area south of the Litani River of terrorists and their infrastructure.

The military said its troops are “clearing the area of Hezbollah terrorists and terrorist infrastructure, in parallel to the broader firepower campaign targeting the Hezbollah terrorist organization’s main centers of gravity.”

A battalion commander in the 162nd Division, which operates in the western sector, described the operations in the areas close to the Israeli border: “Our mission as an engineering force is to reach every area where there are dominant terrains – and to hold it in order to prevent Hezbollah fire toward the communities in the north.”

The IDF announces that it has deployed a sixth division to southern Lebanon amid the ongoing ground offensive against Hezbollah.

The 98th Division, an elite formation of paratroopers and commando units, in the past week began "targeted ground operations to additional objectives… pic.twitter.com/iGaptFAPbT

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 7, 2026

“We seize forward areas in order to control fire, map Hezbollah’s enemy infrastructure – what remains of the area – and destroy it. We use engineering tools and proceed site by site,” he told Ynet News.

The commander explained that, in open terrain, Hezbollah operatives created dug-outs and caves with weapon caches. “This is not very deep, not like what we saw in Gaza. It can reach up to 100 meters, but there is a lot of weaponry in it – from RPGs and Kalashnikovs, through explosives, activation systems, anti-tank missiles, and also launchers, mainly mortars and rockets.”

In addition, the soldiers found stockpiles of water and food, including fresh items such as fruit and vegetables, suggesting they had abandoned the area just ahead of the advancing Israeli forces.

The military publishes footage of caches of Hezbollah weapons that were recently found by troops in southern Lebanon.

The IDF says that reservists of the 769th "Hiram" Regional Brigade located one cache in an underground Hezbollah site.

The weapons included assault rifles,… pic.twitter.com/uslq6tNtcE

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 6, 2026

“At the sites, there are also sleeping bags, rain covers, all these things very extensively – enormous quantities, really for staying many weeks and months in the field. Hezbollah really prepared to use the area as part of their attempts to harm the maneuvering forces; we also found maps and binoculars.”

Testimony from a commander in the field also highlights the falsehood of the claims made by the Lebanese government that southern Lebanon had been cleared of Hezbollah infrastructure in January.

In addition to caves and hideouts in open areas, which might conceivably have been hidden and missed by soldiers of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF), the Israeli commander also described finding weapons and equipment hidden in homes situated as far as the third line of villages from the Israeli border.

The IDF publishes footage showing the identification of an armed cell of Hezbollah operatives in southern Lebanon, before they are targeted in an airstrike. pic.twitter.com/MIh0Lv0iRt

— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) April 6, 2026

Hezbollah has turned entire apartment buildings into weapons stores, he explained. “Just a few days ago, we arrived at a certain area and in a children’s room, we found two Kalashnikovs, sniper rifles, vests, and magazines. In the living room and the closets, there was a lot of weaponry.”

“We blew up and destroyed nearly 500 different sites, both houses and caves – everything. We are working at a very, very high pace,” he said. “We find weapons, drones, vests, ammunition – really in very large quantities.”

The IDF also stated that soldiers of the 91st Division recently “identified Hezbollah anti-tank terrorists who had positioned themselves inside a mosque in the area. Following the identification, the soldiers eliminated the terrorists and dismantled the compound in order to remove the threat to IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians.”

Ynet reported that the IDF’s legal department has prepared assessments on the directive to demolish all houses posing a threat in the frontline villages near the border, as part of a plan to establish a buffer zone to protect northern Israeli residents.