The Israeli military today shared a video of a tunnel allegedly used by Hezbollah members in Lebanon. The one-minute video was reportedly filmed by a Hezbollah member inside a tunnel in south Lebanon, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). NBC News could not independently verify the IDF’s claim.
In the video, a Hezbollah member is seen walking through a darkened tunnel with iron doors. The members are also seen using a flashlight to see their way through the tunnel and pointing to weapons they have stored in rooms within the tunnel. According to the IDF, the tunnel has a bedroom, a bathroom, and a storage room for generators, water tanks, and two-wheelers.
Hezbollah tunnels have proven a potent weapon in the past, and they are expected to play an essential role in any future war with Israel. Experts have estimated that Hezbollah has dozens of tunnels, and the group is believed to have an arsenal of rockets and missiles aimed at Israel.
The tunnels, located under homes in southern Lebanon, allow Hezbollah to hide its forces from Israel’s superior firepower, and they can serve as command-and-control centers for Hezbollah commanders to direct fighters on the ground. Moreover, they provide Hezbollah’s fighters and their equipment with shelter from air strikes.
In addition, Hezbollah can move its forces with relative ease through these tunnels and can also store large amounts of weapons. The IDF has claimed that it has found numerous caches of antitank missiles, explosives, and body armor in Hezbollah tunnels since launching its cross-border offensive in late September.
According to experts, Hezbollah’s tunnels can be easily adapted to accommodate new weapons and systems. They can also be enlarged and rerouted to accommodate more vehicles.
The Lebanese Shiite militia’s extensive tunnel network and vast arsenal of missiles and weapons are helping it weather unprecedented Israeli strikes, three sources familiar with Hezbollah’s operations said. Hezbollah is also able to shift its chains of command and quickly fill in gaps when senior commanders are killed.
A flexible chain of command and a sophisticated underground infrastructure have allowed Hezbollah to weather the unprecedented Israeli attacks that have rocked the country, including strikes on Hezbollah’s pagers and walkie-talkies, which disrupt communication among Hezbollah fighters, the sources said.
However, Hezbollah’s tunnels will unlikely restore deterrence during a full-scale invasion. Despite the tunnels’ utility to Hezbollah in protecting its armor and mitigating the dangers inherent to a decapitation strategy, Israel will still have to execute a comprehensive ground campaign to clear the area around its border with Lebanon. That campaign and its subsequent results will show how Hezbollah’s subterranean spaces shape any fighting above ground.
