The Israeli occupation army launched a ground offensive early Tuesday, October 1, 2024, targeting areas in southern Lebanon as part of its broad escalatory measures aimed at dismantling Hezbollah’s infrastructure and military arsenal.
The occupation forces are striving to destroy Hezbollah’s military capabilities and infrastructure since military operations between the occupation and Hezbollah intensified one day after the Gaza war began on October 7, 2023.
Numerous reports have shed light on Hezbollah’s significant military arsenal in confronting the Israeli occupation army, which includes hundreds of thousands of rockets and missiles, along with a vast underground tunnel network, with some tunnels extending up to 45 kilometers.
Although little is known about Hezbollah’s tunnel network, Israeli reports have described it as Hezbollah’s most dangerous weapon, making it difficult to destroy, according to the Hebrew website Globes.
What is included in Hezbollah’s tunnel system?
A report by the French newspaper Libération revealed that Hezbollah possesses a secret tunnel network more advanced than those of Hamas in Gaza. Here are the key findings from the report:
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- Hezbollah’s tunnels span hundreds of kilometers with branches extending into Israel.
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- The group established a defensive plan with dozens of underground operation centers, connecting Beirut, the Beqaa Valley, and southern Lebanon.
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- After the Second Lebanon War in 2006, Hezbollah, with the assistance of North Korea and Iran, initiated a project to create a regional tunnel network in Lebanon, far larger than Hamas’ network, according to the Israeli Alma Research Center.
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- Alma Research Center’s report from June 2023 also indicated the presence of “explosive tunnels” dug under strategic points, left inactive, but filled with explosives that can be detonated at the right moment to cause an earthquake, landslides, and floods of earth and rocks.
When did the tunnels begin construction?
According to Libération, as early as the 1960s, and possibly before that, Palestinians who had fled to Lebanon began digging underground trenches. They launched occasional missile attacks and infiltrations into northern Israel. Hezbollah later took over this mission. However, due to the rocky terrain, rocks had to be manually drilled using quieter rock-breaking machines or hydraulic tools, as explained by General Olivier Passot, a military researcher and former head of communication for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Estimates suggest that each worker could dig around fifteen meters per month on average. Unlike Hamas, who dug through sand and laid concrete to build Gaza’s “metro,” the rocky nature of Lebanon’s terrain posed a more significant challenge, as described by military expert Passot.
What are the objectives of these tunnels?
The Hebrew website Globes quoted Dr. Nathaniel Palmer, a senior lecturer in the Middle East Studies Department at Bar-Ilan University, saying that Hezbollah’s tunnels serve three main purposes: concealment, remaining out of sight of Israeli forces and intelligence, and inflicting losses on the occupation forces if Israel attempts to enter and fight inside the tunnels.
How do Gaza’s tunnels differ from those in Lebanon?
Gaza’s tunnels are mostly made of gravel, composed of sand and soft rock. In contrast, Hezbollah’s tunnels in the north are primarily dug through hard rocks, particularly in mountainous areas, according to Globes, quoting Dr. Amihai Mittleman from the Department of Civil Engineering at Ariel University in the West Bank settlement of Ariel.
Operation Northern Shield: Israel’s response to Hezbollah’s tunnels
As part of its preparations for the so-called Operation Northern Shield, the Israeli occupation sent 11 military engineers to Europe, where they were trained by experts in excavation and drilling, focusing on working in rugged terrain and drilling into rocks similar to those Hezbollah dug through from Lebanon into Israel.
By 2015, the Israeli occupation army had realized that it would need to address Hezbollah’s tunnel project. A team of military engineers, intelligence officers, and technology experts decided that plans should be put in place to destroy the tunnels in the future, as reported by Haaretz.
Senior engineers in the occupation forces also recognized that the terrain in northern Israel differed significantly from the terrain along the Gaza border. The expertise gained in southern Israel may not be suitable when dealing with the tunnels in the north.
Can Hezbollah’s tunnels be eliminated?
According to a Reuters report, Israel has already struggled to eliminate Hamas’ tunnel leaders and combat units dependent on tunnels in Gaza.
Carmit Valensi, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, said: “This is one of the biggest challenges we face in Gaza, and it’s certainly something we might face in Lebanon.”
Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the Department of Security Studies at King’s College London, noted that unlike Gaza, where most tunnels are manually dug through sandy soil, Lebanon’s tunnels are dug deep into mountain rocks. He added, “Reaching these tunnels is much more difficult than Gaza’s tunnels, and destroying them is much harder.”
Hezbollah had previously released a video titled “Our Mountains are Our Treasures,” showing part of its military arsenal. The footage displayed a missile launch site named “Imad 4,” with rocket launchers and military equipment built into large underground tunnels.
Lebanese military analyst Hisham Jaber, a retired general, suggested that the “Imad 4” facility is likely one of dozens of such installations. He pointed out that “the mountains and hills of southern Lebanon are perfect for building protected facilities because they are deep within the mountain,” as reported by AFP.
Jaber noted that “warplanes cannot reach these facilities,” and fighters may remain inside these well-equipped tunnels for months.
He added that Israel could “continue to destroy Lebanon for several months without ever reaching” the bunkers.
