Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Israel had completely destroyed 24 historic villages in southern Lebanon whose residents, he claimed, had operated on behalf of Hezbollah, while the Israeli military announced additional operations targeting the group's underground infrastructure and weapons sites near the Lebanese border.

Speaking at a conference organized by Israel's Channel 14 television network, Katz said the Israeli military had razed entire villages rather than individual buildings.

"Twenty-four Lebanese villages that were hundreds of years old—with Shiite residents who acted as enemies on behalf of Hezbollah and threatened our borders and our residents—we destroyed all of the buildings," Katz said.

"Not one house at a time. The entirety of those villages—their demolition has been completed. We’re talking about 15,000 to 20,000 homes. All 24 of these villages have been destroyed, and Bint Jbeil, which is beyond this area of southern Lebanon, has also been destroyed," he added.

Katz said Israel currently controls a 700-square-kilometer area in southern Lebanon stretching "from the coastline to the Beaufort Castle and the foothills of Mount Hermon."

"We’re preventing infiltrations into Israeli towns, preventing anti-tank missile fire on Israeli communities, and the Israel Defense Forces continue to operate in southern Lebanon, demolishing tunnels," he said.

The defense minister compared Israel’s campaign in Lebanon with its operations in Gaza, saying the Israeli military had employed a similar strategy against Hamas.

"Today there is no Shejaiya. There is no Jabalia. All those terrible places no longer exist," Katz said.

"Today, the mayor of Sderot told me, ‘I don’t see any houses when I look toward Gaza. I see the shoreline.’ We have destroyed Gaza," he added.

IDF Says It Destroyed Hezbollah Command Tunnel Near UNIFIL Position

Separately, the Israeli military said troops had demolished an underground Hezbollah command center beneath a construction materials factory near a United Nations peacekeeping position in southern Lebanon.

The military said soldiers operating in the village of Haddatha, within what Israel describes as its buffer zone in southern Lebanon, uncovered a tunnel approximately 55 meters (180 feet) long containing three rooms that had been used as a Hezbollah command center.

According to the army, the tunnel was located beneath a construction materials factory about 300 meters from a building used by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

Nearby, troops also discovered a pit containing dozens of weapons, the military said.

Israeli combat engineers destroyed the tunnel earlier this week.

Explosion Hits Israeli Military Vehicle

The Israeli military also said an engineering vehicle was struck by an explosion overnight in the Ali Taher Ridge area of southern Lebanon.

No soldiers were injured in the incident.

The army said it was investigating whether the vehicle had been hit by an explosive drone launched by Hezbollah, which would represent the first such incident since the Lebanese-Israeli framework agreement reached in late June.

Ali Taher Ridge, near the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh, is believed by Israeli military officials to contain an extensive underground Hezbollah complex. The military estimates that dozens of Hezbollah operatives remain inside the tunnel network beneath the ridge.

However, Israeli forces have been unable to seize the underground passages because of restrictions imposed by the ceasefire agreement.

Israeli Troops Kill Suspect, Seize Weapons

The Israeli military said troops also fired on a man who approached Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon earlier this week.

Lebanese media reported Monday that Shadi Hussayan al-Darwish was killed by Israeli fire between the villages of Mansouri and Ras al-Bayada in the Tyre district.

The military said a suspect had been identified approaching Israeli troops in the Ras al-Bayada area "in a manner that posed a threat."

Soldiers initially fired warning shots, but after the individual continued advancing and ignored repeated calls to stop, troops fired at him "in order to remove the threat," the army said.

The military added that soldiers operating in the buffer zone had also seized additional Hezbollah weapons, including assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenade launchers, explosive devices, and other military equipment.