From jns.org
Israeli Air Force fighter jets carried out “extensive” strikes on Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure in Southern Lebanon, the IDF revealed.
Israel Defense Forces soldiers destroyed a Hezbollah terrorist tunnel that crossed some 10 meters (33 feet) into sovereign Israeli territory from Lebanon, the military revealed on Tuesday night.
According to the statement, the tunnel had no exit in Israeli territory, though its path crossed the Blue Line—a U.N.-recognized delineation marking Jerusalem’s withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000—in the area of Zar’it, an agricultural community in the Upper Galilee near the border.
The underground infrastructure was physically located in recent months during a targeted IDF counter-terrorism operation to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure in Southern Lebanon, the army statement announced.
“The tunnel was under full [Israeli] operational control until troops arrived in the area [as part of the IDF ground maneuver] in order to prevent it from being used to carry out terrorism,” the statement noted.
Elite IDF troops were said to have discovered a cache of weapons and explosive devices, as well as anti-tank missiles, in the tunnel.
“The IDF will continue its limited, localized, targeted ground operations based on precise intelligence and targeted airstrikes in Southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is no longer a threat to the civilians of northern Israel,” said the army.
The statement noted that no additional tunnels have been found so far.
‘Intention of harming IDF forces’
Hezbollah has attacked the Jewish state on a near-daily basis from its “military” positions in Southern Lebanon since Oct. 8 in support of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its infiltration into Israel on Oct. 7.
The Iranian-backed terrorist army has fired more than 12,400 rockets, missiles and drones at Israel over the past year, killing more than 40 people and causing widespread damage. Tens of thousands of Israelis remain internally displaced due to the ongoing cross-border attacks.
Jerusalem has escalated attacks on Hezbollah since adding the return of evacuated Israeli civilians to the north as an official war goal on Sept. 17.
The Israeli Air Force has since attacked the Hezbollah leadership in its southern Beirut stronghold multiple times, killing terror leader Hassan Nasrallah and targeting his presumed successor, Hashem Safieddine.
The Israel Defense Forces late last week launched a limited ground operation in Lebanon, which is focused on dismantling Hezbollah’s terrorist infrastructure located within miles of Israel’s northern border.
IDF Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari told reporters on Tuesday evening that fighter jets the previous day carried out “extensive” strikes on Hezbollah’s underground infrastructure in Southern Lebanon.
Acting on specific intelligence from the Military Intelligence Directorate, in conjunction with the IDF Northern Command and Operations Directorate, 100 jets struck Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, which has been responsible for terror threats to communities in northern Israel.
The Radwan Force’s Galilee invasion plan served as the blueprint for the Hamas Nukhba death squads that led the Oct. 7 massacre in Israel.
Some 50 Lebanese terrorists, including six Hezbollah commanders, were killed in Monday’s strikes, Hagari said, noting that the targets of the attack had all advanced terrorist attacks against the Jewish state.
According to the IDF, Hezbollah’s Southern Front “for years built a vast array of infrastructure and underground headquarters in Southern Lebanon with the intention of harming IDF forces during combat and carrying out an attack plan against the Galilee communities.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem for the first time signaled the terrorist organization’s approval of ongoing efforts to reach a ceasefire in Israel’s military campaign in Lebanon.
However, according to a translation provided by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Qassem ruled out a truce until Jerusalem ceases its campaign. “As far as we are concerned, prior to the truce, any other discussion is out of place. If the enemy continues its war, the battlefield will decide [between us],” Qassem was quoted as saying.
“We belong to the battlefield and are not begging for a solution. Know that this is a war over who screams first, and we will not scream. We will continue to make sacrifices, and Inshallah [‘God willing’], you will hear the screams of the Israeli enemy,” the Hezbollah deputy leader added.
Hezbollah is under pressure from Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi to stop the fighting, Israel’s Channel 12 News reported on Tuesday night. Tehran’s insistence on a truce was borne out of a desire to limit its losses in the multi-front war with Israel, the report claimed.
