Hezbollah is said to have a more complex tunnel network than Hamas
Since the Gaza war, Lebanese Hezbollah has been engaged in almost daily firefights with the Israeli army in the border region. The militia's tunnels are another threat to Israel. These are "more sophisticated" than those of Hamas, explains one expert.
According to a media report, the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon has a more sophisticated tunnel system than the Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The underground routes in southern Lebanon run for hundreds of kilometers to the border with Israel, reported the newspaper "Times of Israel", citing intelligence expert Tal Beeri. The head of the Alma Research and Education Center, which deals with security issues on Israel's northern border, says he has been researching the tunnel network of the Iranian-backed Shia militia in Lebanon for years on the basis of publicly available information.
In 2018, Israel's army found and destroyed a Hezbollah "border-crossing attack tunnel" under the Israeli-Lebanese border as part of Operation Northern Shield. "This is the first tunnel we have found, (...) after that we will turn to other tunnels, we know they exist," said a spokesperson at the time. There are tunnels that Hezbollah can also use to launch precision weapons, Beeri told the newspaper. The tunnel system "is more sophisticated" than that of Hamas. Hezbollah has links to Hamas, but is considered to be much more powerful.
Israel's army has been waging war against the terrorist organization in the Gaza Strip since the massacre by Hamas and other groups in Israel on 7 October. Hamas is using its network of tunnels, in which, according to Israel, many of the terrorists are hiding and also holding hostages from Israel. Israel's army says it has already uncovered and destroyed some of the extensive tunnels. In the course of the worsening situation on the border with Lebanon, Hezbollah's tunnels are now also being discussed again, the newspaper reported.
Hamas deputy killed in Lebanon
On Tuesday, the deputy head of Hamas, Saleh al-Aruri, was killed in a drone attack in the Lebanese capital Beirut. The radio station of the radical Islamic Hamas Al-Aksa and the Lebanese station Majadin confirmed information from security circles according to which al-Aruri was killed in an Israeli attack on a Hamas office in the south of Beirut. While Israel's military would not comment on reports of a targeted killing of Saleh al-Aruri, the Hamas-allied Hezbollah militia announced retaliation.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war following the Hamas massacre in Israel, there have been repeated confrontations between Israel's army and Hezbollah in the Israeli-Lebanese border region. The militia fights gun battles with Israeli soldiers on an almost daily basis. There have been casualties on both sides. It is feared that the killing of al-Aruri could now escalate the conflict. There could be indications of this this Wednesday - in a speech planned for the evening by Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah.
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Despite Israel's ongoing conflict with Hamas in the Gaza Strip, the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon has a more sophisticated tunnel system than Hamas, as reported by the "Times of Israel" based on intelligence expert Tal Beeri's claims. This network, which extends for hundreds of kilometers to the border with Israel, poses a significant threat to Israel due to the reported presence of precision weapons.
Source: www.ntv.de
