TEL AVIV, Israel – Israeli forces have spent much of the past year dismantling Hamas’ vast underground network in Gaza. They are now focused on dismantling tunnels and other hideouts belonging to Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon.
Scarred by the deadly Hamas attack on Israel last year that sparked the Gaza war, Israel says it wants to prevent a similar incursion from happening on its northern border.
The Israeli military has combed the dense undergrowth of southern Lebanon over the past two weeks, uncovering what it says are Hezbollah’s deep-strike capabilities — highlighted by a tunnel system equipped with weapons caches and rocket launchers that Israel says they pose a direct threat to neighboring communities. . .
Israel’s war against the Iran-backed militant group extends far into Lebanon, and its airstrikes in recent weeks have killed more than 1,700 people, about a quarter of whom were women and men , according to local health authorities. But his ground campaign has focused on a narrow strip of land along the border where Hezbollah has long had a presence.
Hezbollah, which has called for the destruction of Israel, is the largest paramilitary force in the Arab world. It started firing rockets at Israel a day after the Hamas attack. After nearly a year of vengeful fighting with Hezbollah, Israel launched its ground invasion of southern Lebanon on October 1 and has since sent thousands of troops into the rugged terrain. As it continues to build up its forces, Israel says its occupation consists of “limited, localized and targeted ground attacks” aimed at destroying Hezbollah’s infrastructure so that tens of thousands of displaced Israelis can return home. Fighting has also uprooted more than a million Lebanese in the past month.
