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Underground Combat Site in The Eastern Sector of Southern Lebanon
Under a Lebanese border village, IDF finds huge Hezbollah base primed for invasion by Emanuel Fabian Times of Israel (ToI)
ToI joins commander of 98th Division for tour of terror group’s subterranean staging ground; at 2 km long and some 40 meters deep, it is the largest tunnel network found to date
UNDER THE COVER OF DARKNESS IN SOUTH LEBANON
Under strict security, the Israeli military earlier this week led multiple reporters from an army post near Kiryat Shmona into southern Lebanon. Traveling in a convoy of open-top Humvees, we were being taken to a village several kilometers from the border the press were instructed to put their phones on airplane mode, not to turn on their screens throughout the drive, and to be as silent as possible, amid fears that Hezbollah operatives could spot us and launch anti-tank missiles at the convoy during the drive in enemy territory to where Hezbollah had constructed a massive underground military base that the Israel Defense Forces says was to be used by the terror group in a planned invasion of Israel.
EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED LOCKED AND LOADED
The Humvees turned their headlights off and soldiers leading the convoy were using night vision to see their way in the pitch black. As the convoy approached the border, and upon crossing it, the soldiers cocked their weapons as intermittent sounds of gunfire and explosions from artillery shelling were heard around us.
Upon arriving at the village, which the army asked us not to name in our reporting, and with just the moonlight to illuminate our way, the soldiers led us to the yard of a home.
GROUND ZERO: A HOLE IN THE GROUND.
A small jump down and we were greeted with a long staircase running dozens of meters down. From there, the soldiers directed us on the correct pathway, taking us to the tunnel network’s main hallway, calling the passages tunnels fails to capture the scale of the subterranean system dug into a mountain — was some 2 kilometers in length and reached depths of around 40 meters in some areas, and the hallways themselves were more than two meters high; the Hezbollah site dwarfed even the most impressive Hamas tunnels uncovered in the Gaza Strip. Those are far more claustrophobic.
ABOVE: The inside of a Hezbollah tunnel in southern Lebanon, in a handout video released by the IDF on October 26, 2024
UNDERGROUND COMBAT SITE - PURPOSE INVASION OF ISRAEL
“This isn’t a ‘tunnel,’ it’s an underground combat site, extremely significant, which the enemy constructed over years for the purpose of an invasion of Israel — we estimate targeting the northern towns,” said Brig. Gen. Guy Levy, the commander of the 98th Division, as he gave us a tour of the complex.
EST. 15 YEARS OF CONSTRUCTION
The military estimated that the tunnels were built by Hezbollah over the past 15 years and the IDF believes the underground site was intended by Hezbollah for use as a staging ground, where hundreds of terror operatives would arrive when called, gather equipment, and ready themselves to attack Israeli towns. Hezbollah’s invasion plans never materialized. In the event of fighting, Hezbollah members could also reside in the site for lengthy periods.
It could also be used by officers for command and control, the subterranean network was large enough to hold hundreds of Hezbollah fighters, members of the terror group’s elite Radwan Force, to prepare for an attack on Israel — though only a handful were there when the military arrived. - IDF assessed.
The tunnel had several emergency exits, which were normally covered above ground. As we walked through the subterranean passages, low thuds could be heard from Israeli airstrikes as well as Hezbollah rocket attacks.
Along the wide corridors of the underground site were doorways leading to dozens of rooms, including an armory, food storage, living quarters, showers, generator rooms and kitchens. In one of the rooms, dozens of weapons were being stored, including AK-47 assault rifles, explosive devices, RPGs and launchers, sniper rifles and anti-tank guided missiles and launchers. Next to the weapons were stacks of canned food, from chocolate spread and halva to pickled olives.
WEAPONS CACHE WAS A “LIVE SITE”
As we strode through the tunnel’s main hallway, officers warned us to watch our step, as Hezbollah had left behind weapons strewn on the ground. “Don’t touch, don’t step, don’t play around, don’t do anything,” the battalion commander said.
Grenades, assault rifles, RPGs and mines were seen along the ground. In one of the living quarters, an AK-type gun and a grenade were left on a bed.
IDF PRIOR INTELLIGENCE OF UNDERGROUND SITE
Brig. Gen. Guy Levy, the commander of the 98th Division said that the army had prior intelligence regarding the underground site and over the course of around 48 hours, the troops battled Hezbollah operatives around the village, including a cell stationed at the main entrance to the tunnel system which the military believes was responsible for guarding the underground site.
SWEEP AND REMOVE BOOBY TRAPS
Troops and Combat Engineers entered the passages, removed booby traps — including a claymore-style mine planted on the ceiling in one of the hallways — and breached Hezbollah’s heavy blast doors and the site was mapped out by combat engineers, ahead of its planned demolition.
BOOOM… VAPOURIZED
“We will stay here until the site is destroyed completely and it no longer poses a threat to the residents of the north,” the general added. “They won’t be able to launch an attack from here on our towns.”
Acknowledgement Original Sources
FEATURE VIDEO:
Credit to 𝕏user: Imtiaz Madmood | 𝕏handle: @ImtiazMadmood | 𝕏clip: 1841107851026018752 | 𝕏clip-duration: 2:04 | 𝕏post: 1841107851026018752
EDITORIAL:
Credit to Emanuel Fabian Times of Israel: Under a Lebanese border village, IDF finds huge Hezbollah base primed for invasion. READ HERE
INSERTED VIDEO:
Credit to Times of Israel HERE
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