Hezbollah showcases rocket tunnels in video
While Israel anticipates an attack from Iran and Hezbollah, the Shiite militia publishes a video showcasing its tunnel system and arsenal. The voice in the video warns Israel of a reality it cannot imagine.
The Iran-backed Hezbollah militia in Lebanon has released a video displaying its tunnel system and rocket arsenal. The four-and-a-half-minute film shows suspected Hezbollah fighters driving motorcycles and trucks through an extensive, illuminated, and rock-hewn tunnel system, transporting rockets among other things. The voice of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, with excerpts from a 2018 speech, can be heard on the video.
Nasrallah states that the militia, allied with Iran, possesses "precision and non-precision rockets and weapon capabilities" that will confront Israel with a fate and reality it cannot imagine if Israel imposes a war on Lebanon. The militia has the coordinates for targets, Nasrallah's audio commentary adds, with subtitles in English and Hebrew. "These rockets will be placed, deployed, and targeted at the objectives in perfect secrecy." Nasrallah also notes that the militia has more weapons, personnel, experience, and willpower than ever before.
The video, titled "Our Mountains Are Our Warehouses," also shows a trapdoor opening to reveal a rocket launcher pointed towards the sky. Some of the suspected rockets seen in the video bear the inscription "Imad 4" - apparently a reference to Hezbollah military chief Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a car bomb explosion in Damascus in 2008.
Experts suspect an extensive tunnel system in Lebanon
Since the 2006 war, experts say, Hezbollah has significantly enlarged and improved its arsenal. The militia is believed to possess a large arsenal of heavy artillery rockets, ballistic missiles, and anti-aircraft, anti-tank, and anti-ship missiles. Experts also suspect that the militia has an extensive tunnel system in southern Lebanon and in the Bekaa Valley on the border with Syria.
Hezbollah and Iran had threatened Israel with harsh retaliation for the killings of Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr in Beirut and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, both of which occurred in late July in the context of the Gaza war. Hamas and Iran blame Israel for both attacks.
With negotiations for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip resuming in Doha on Thursday, mediators hope to prevent further escalation of the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Since the beginning of the war in the Gaza Strip following the Hamas large-scale attack on October 7, Hezbollah has been nearly daily shelling Israel's north from Lebanon. Israel responds with attacks in Lebanon.
The video released by Hezbollah serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing ['Terrorism threat'] from the Iran-backed militia towards Israel. The presence of an extensive tunnel system and rocket arsenal in Lebanon, as suggested by experts, further underscores this threat.
