Israel claims to have uncovered and destroyed a “massive” underground network of tunnels built by the Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said troops located two underground tunnels – constructed over a decade and stretching 2km in length – in the southern Lebanese town of Qantara, just “10 kilometres from Israel’s northern communities”.
“Inside the tunnels, soldiers located a large quantity of weapons, living quarters, water tanks, and equipment for prolonged stays,” the IDF wrote on X, alongside body camera footage reportedly taken by troops inside the hideout.
The footage appeared to show various rooms with bunk beds, mattresses, bottles, bags, a fan and various other items.
Clothing could also be seen hung up along the walls of the tunnels and strewn on the floor in the rooms.
The IDF said it used 450 tons of explosives to blow up the tunnels.
“Today we blew up a massive Hezbollah terrorist tunnel,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement posted to X.
“We are destroying their terrorist infrastructure, we are killing scores of terrorists, and we are not done yet.”
An image released by AFP show two large columns of smoke rising from the site.
Lebanese state media said an Israeli detonation had left a “large crater” in Qantara, after earlier reporting a “major demolition operation” in the town.
IDF claimed the tunnels were built by Hezbollah and “funded by the Iranian terror regime and as part of Hezbollah’s plan to conquer the Galilee,” The Times of Israel reported.
An Israeli military source told AFP the “massive underground military installation” was used as “an assembly area” for Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces.
Running under civilian infrastructure, including a school and a mosque, the tunnels were equipped with sleeping quarters, showers, toilets, kitchenettes and five assembly halls, he said, indicating it was “designed, sponsored and paid for by Iran”.
Lebanon was drawn into the Middle East war on March 2 when Hezbollah fired rockets towards Israel to avenge the killing of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
Fighting has continued despite a shaky April 17 ceasefire, with both sides accusing the other of violations.
Israeli strikes kill eight in Lebanon
The Lebanese health ministry said Israeli strikes killed eight people, including civil defence rescuers, and wounded two soldiers in the country’s south on Tuesday, despite the ongoing ceasefire.
“The Israeli enemy’s air raid on the town of Majdal Zoun … has, in a preliminary toll, killed five martyrs,” Lebanon’s health ministry said.
It added that it included “three paramedics from the Lebanese civil defence who were trapped under the rubble after a strike that targeted them while they were carrying out a rescue mission”.
The ministry later said another two people were killed and 13 were injured in an Israeli strike in the town of Jebchit in southern Lebanon.
Lebanon’s army reported two of its troops were wounded “as a result of a hostile Israeli targeting of an army patrol”.
The statement was the first time the Lebanese army had said its troops had been targeted since the truce began.
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun denounced the attack on Majdal Zoun, saying “Israel continues to violate international laws and conventions that protect civilians”.
The health ministry added that one person was killed and 15 were hurt – among them five children and five women – in a separate Israeli strike on Jwaya.
The strike came after Israel issued a fresh evacuation order aimed at residents in more than a dozen villages and towns, urging them to immediately head northwards.
Despite the order, Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said Israel had “no territorial ambitions in Lebanon”.
“Our presence in the areas by our northern border serves one purpose: protecting our citizens,” he said at a news conference this week.
Mr Saar added Israeli forces would leave south Lebanon when “Hezbollah and other terror organisations are dismantled”.
– With AFP
