Israel claims to have discovered a network of Hezbollah tunnels in southern Lebanon

Israeli forces have spent the past several years destroying Hamas’ underground network in Gaza. They are now focused on dismantling tunnels and other hideouts belonging to Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon.

Shocked by last year’s deadly Hamas attack on Israel that sparked a war in Gaza, Israel says it aims to prevent similar attacks on its northern border from stopping.

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The Israeli military has been combing the dense underbrush of southern Lebanon for the past two weeks, uncovering what it says is Hezbollah’s deep-strike capability – highlighted by a tunnel system equipped with weapons and rocket launchers that Israel says pose a direct threat to nearby communities. .

Israel’s war against Iranian-backed militant groups stretches far into Lebanon, and airstrikes in recent weeks have killed more than 1,700 people, about a quarter of them women and children, according to local health authorities. But the ground campaign has been centered on a narrow stretch of land along the border, where Hezbollah has long held sway.

Hezbollah, which calls for the destruction of Israel, is the most important paramilitary force in the Arab world. It began firing rockets into Israel a day after the Hamas attack. After nearly a year of tit-for-tat war with Hezbollah, Israel launched a ground invasion into southern Lebanon on October 1 and began sending thousands of troops into the rugged terrain.

Even as it continues to build up its forces, Israel says the invasion includes “limited, localized and targeted ground attacks” intended to destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure so tens of thousands of displaced Israelis can return home. The fighting also left more than 1 million Lebanese dead last month.

Many southern Lebanese became supporters of the group and benefited from its social outreach. Though most fled the area in the past few months, they see the heavily armed Hezbollah as their defenders, especially since the US-backed Lebanese army lacks the proper weapons to protect it from Israeli attacks.

That broad support has allowed Hezbollah to create “a military infrastructure for itself” in the village, said Eva J. Koulouriotis, a political analyst specializing in the Middle East and Islamic militant groups. The Israeli military said it had found weapons in homes and buildings in the village.

With Israel’s air power overwhelming Hezbollah’s defenses, the militant group turned to underground tunnels as a way to evade Israeli drones and jets. Experts say Hezbollah’s tunnels are not limited to the south.

“This is a land of tunnels,” said Tal Beeri, who studies Hezbollah as director of research at the Alma Center for Research and Education, a think tank with a focus on northern Israeli security.

Koulouriotis said the tunnels are south of Beirut’s southern suburbs, where Hezbollah’s command and control is located and where strategic missile depots are located. He said the group also maintains tunnels on the border with Syria, which are used to smuggle weapons and other supplies from Iran into Lebanon.

South Lebanon is where Hezbollah maintains tunnels to store missiles — and from where they can be launched, Koulouriotis said. Some of the more than 50 Israelis killed by Hezbollah over the past year were hit by anti-tank missiles.

Unlike the tunnels dug by Hamas in the coastal Gaza Strip, Hezbollah’s tunnels in southern Lebanon are carved into solid rock, a feat that takes time, money, machinery and expertise.

Israeli military officials said that using earlier intelligence, Israel had discovered “hundreds and hundreds and hundreds” of weak positions, many of which could hold ten fighters and be stocked with rations. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with military rules, said troops either blew up the tunnels they found or used cement to make them unusable.

The group used the tunnels during the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war, but the network has expanded since, despite a UN ceasefire resolution forcing Lebanese and UN forces to withdraw Hezbollah fighters from the south.

In mid-August, Hezbollah released a video showing what appeared to be an underground tunnel large enough for a truck loaded with missiles. Hezbollah operatives were also seen riding motorcycles inside the lighted tunnel, named Imad-4 after the group’s late military commander, Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in Syria in 2008 in an explosion blamed on Israel.

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Israeli forces are pushing into southern Lebanon using tanks and engineering equipment, and air and ground forces have struck thousands of targets in the region since the invasion began.

The military recently said it had discovered a cross-border tunnel that was only a few meters into Israel but had no opening. Israel also opened a tunnel shaft located about 100 meters (yards) from a UN peacekeeping post, although it is unclear what the tunnel’s purpose was.

Israel said the tunnels were stocked with supplies and weapons and equipped with lights, vents and sometimes pipes, suggesting they could be used for long stays. They said they had captured several Hezbollah fighters hiding inside, including three on Tuesday who they said were found armed. Israeli military officials said many Hezbollah fighters appeared to be retreating from the area.

Lebanese military expert Naji Malaeb, a retired brigadier general, said he thought Hezbollah’s tunnels prevented Israel from making major gains. He compared the feat to the war in Gaza, where Hamas used tunnels to attack Israeli forces and launch insurgency-like attacks.

Israeli authorities insist that the mission in Lebanon was a success. It said it had killed hundreds of Hezbollah fighters since the ground operation in Lebanon began, although at least 15 Israeli soldiers had been killed in that time.

Israel has encountered Hezbollah tunnels before. In 2018, Israel launched an operation to destroy so-called attack tunnels crossing into Israeli territory. Beeri said six tunnels were found, including one 1 kilometer (1,000 yards) long and 80 meters (87 yards) deep, crossing about 50 meters into Israel.

For Israel, the tunnels are evidence that Hezbollah is planning what Israel says will be a bloody attack on communities in the north.

“Hezbollah has openly announced that it plans to carry out its own Oct. 7 massacre on the northern border of Israel, on an even larger scale,” the Israeli military spokesman said. Admiral Daniel Hagari said on the day the troops entered Lebanon.

Israel has not released evidence that such an attack has taken place, but has expressed concern that it could be launched if citizens return.

Former Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, who was killed by Israel last month while in an underground bunker, has hinted in a speech that Hezbollah could launch an attack on northern Israel.

In May 2023, a few months before the Hamas attack, Hezbollah staged a simulated incursion into northern Israel with gun-toting militants on motorbikes storming a border fence decorated with Israeli flags.

Hezbollah officials sometimes make calls to attack Israel as a defensive measure to be taken in the event of a war.