Hezbollah’s advanced tunnels: major threat to Israeli border, experts warn

Shafaq News/ Israeli experts warned about Hezbollah's tunnel systems, fearing that a full-scale war on the northern front could lead to border breaches and attacks inside Israel with serious consequences.

Last April, Israel Hayom reported that experts from Alma Research Center revealed Hezbollah, with aid from Iran and North Korea, built complex, offensive, and strategic tunnels 18 years ago, surpassing Hamas' tunnels in Gaza.

‎Tal Barry, head of the research department at the center, said that there are “hundreds of kilometers of tunnels built underground, within solid rock and deep within the earth.”

In turn, retired Israeli Brigadier General Ronen Manelis stated that “Hezbollah's tunnel network is far superior, with ten times the complexity of the tunnels Israel has faced in Gaza.”

Manelis discussed Israel's 2018 operation, “Northern Shield,” aimed at dismantling Hezbollah's tunnels in southern Lebanon. During the operation, six tunnels were either destroyed or neutralized, explaining, “The discovered tunnels were demolished by injecting large amounts of steel-reinforced concrete, and blasting techniques were also employed.”

“I do not want to imagine what would have happened on the northern border if these tunnels were active today,” he added.

Last February, the French newspaper Libération reported that “Hezbollah's secret tunnels are more advanced than Hamas' tunnels in Gaza. They stretch hundreds of kilometers, extending into Israel and potentially reaching Syria.”

Moreover, the newspaper cited Israeli researchers and websites stating that “Hezbollah had set up a defense plan with dozens of operations centers connected by local underground networks across Beirut, Beqaa, and southern Lebanon.”

The Israeli government believes Hezbollah tunnels on the northern border extend to Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya on Israel's Northern Coast.

Months ago, after receiving complaints about drilling noise, the Nahariya Medical Center administration prompted the Israeli army to conduct ground tests to check for a potential tunnel from Lebanon.

According to Israel Hayom, “Israeli authorities conducted over 40 excavation tests in the hospital area but found no evidence of tunnels, ruling out the suspicion.”

Additionally, the newspaper noted that Galilee Hospital, just 10 km from the northern border with Lebanon, is the closest hospital to the border. Initial reports of suspected tunnels emerged last December.

The Israel Hayom report revealed that “the attack tunnels destroyed in 2018 were intended to let Hezbollah's Radwan Force infiltrate Israeli territory undetected, targeting military sites and civilian areas while causing harm to Israeli reinforcements."