War in Lebanon

In the biggest tunnel of the Hezbollah terrorists

Benjamin Weinthal accompanied the Israeli army into the combat zone in Lebanon.

(Bild: IDF, Krone KREATIV)

A reporter was able to accompany an Israeli army unit. A military spokesman explains how the Islamists wanted to try to overrun parts of Israel - just like Hamas on October 7, 2023.

It is night in Lebanon. It is night in the third war between Israel and Lebanon, or rather between Israel and Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets at Israel every day for more than a year.

In "solidarity" with the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, which attacked Israel on 7 October 2023 and murdered more than 1200 people and kidnapped more than 200 hostages in the Gaza Strip.

Under the cover of darkness, "embedded" in a unit of Israeli soldiers, we are on our way to the combat zone between Israel and Lebanon - wearing protective helmets and bulletproof vests. Explosions can be heard again and again. The war is very close.

Our destination is the huge Hezbollah tunnel system, which was built beneath the Shiite village of Rab El Thalathine. From here, it is less than 2.5 kilometers to the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.

Tunnel system goes up to 40 meters underground
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), as the army is officially known, only recently captured the Lebanese border town. And just a week ago, they discovered the tunnel system, which is more than a kilometer long and lies between twelve and 40 meters deep underground.

There were battles between the IDF and Hezbollah units, which were ultimately eliminated. "It's the biggest tunnel we've found so far," says an IDF soldier.

Hezbollah built the tunnel "for one reason only", adds an Israeli army spokesman: "To infiltrate Israel, kill and rape Israeli citizens and inflict further violence on them."

Ten shafts in this underground labyrinth "extend into civilian homes, where ammunition, anti-tank weapons and AK-47 assault rifles were found," the IDF spokesman said.

Part of Hezbollah's arsenal in the tunnel

(Bild: IDF)

An Israeli soldier familiar with the spider web of Hamas tunnels in Gaza described the Hezbollah tunnel system as "more stable and sophisticated" than the so-called "Gaza Metro" - the nickname for Hamas' underground city (estimated to be 500 kilometers long), which is more branched than the London Underground.

The "Hezbollah Metro" was equipped by the terrorists with canned Lebanese food, washing machines, bedrooms, showers, toilets, mattresses, Iranian weapons, fans and a workshop. The tunnel system has room for more than 500 fighters. According to the IDF, there are enough food supplies to last them for several weeks. Some of its members were captured just three kilometers from the tunnel.

Hundreds of Shiite civilians, on the other hand, have fled the village. Rab El Thalathine and also Kiryat Shmona on the Israeli side of the border have become ghost towns. The IDF spokesman reports: "We found long-range rockets here that could easily have been fired as far as the Galilee." Hezbollah "came here disguised as civilians and got their uniforms, their weapons systems and their plans to infiltrate Israel." Northern Israel should have been overrun.

Hezbollah secret plan: "Conquest of Galilee"
 Hezbollah's plan was an invasion on an even larger scale than the Hamas massacre on October 7. Hezbollah called this secret plan the "conquest of the Galilee". This shows the extreme danger posed by the Shiite militia, which is also classified as a terrorist organization by Austria.

Israeli tanks are now stationed near the Lebanese village of Rab El Thalathine. An Israeli drone with a bright green light can be seen in the sky, monitoring the area.

Israeli tank in action

(Bild: Associated Press)

The armed forces cannot say exactly how long the ground war will last. Brigadier General Guy Levy, the commander of the IDF's 98th Paratrooper Division: "Our main goal here is to find and locate every single terrorist site, destroy it and ensure that we can return our citizens to northern Israel so that they can live a normal life there. We will do whatever it takes to achieve this."

More than 60,000 Israelis have fled northern Israel because of the Hezbollah attacks. It is unclear how extensive Hezbollah's underground weapons cache still is. The terrorist organization has also been firing rockets towards the city of Haifa for weeks.

Vienna-born Israeli Naftali Hirschl told the newspaper "Krone": "We have to run into the bunker up to six times a day. Often as a preventative measure, on suspicion, because my son is severely disabled. Otherwise it's impossible to get to the bunker with him in time."

Israel sharply criticizes the UN observer mission UNIFIL in southern Lebanon, which also includes around 180 Austrian soldiers. The force was massively increased after the last Lebanon war almost 20 years ago. The blue helmet soldiers were supposed to enforce the implementation of UN Resolution 1701, according to which Hezbollah must withdraw from southern Lebanon and allow itself to be disarmed by the regular Lebanese army. Israel blames UNIFIL for the fact that this never happened. On the contrary. Hezbollah was able to build its extensive tunnel system in full view of the UN troops and store up to 150,000 rockets there.

UN observer mission in Lebanon

(Bild: AFP)

Kandice Ardiel, spokesperson for UNIFIL, told the newspaper "Krone": "The implementation of Resolution 1701 is the responsibility of the parties. Peacekeepers support the parties in the implementation, monitor and report violations. That is what we have done and what we are still doing."

UN investigating allegations of bribery
When asked about a media report by "Israel Hayom" that Hezbollah had bribed UNIFIL staff in order to hide behind their positions, Ardiel said: "I would take anonymous stories with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, we will investigate any allegation based on credible evidence."

The sun rises slowly as we leave southern Lebanon, protected by Israeli soldiers. The night is over. The war continues.

Benjamin Weinthal accompanied Israel's army into the combat zone in Lebanon.