close
close

Ourladyoftheassumptionparish

Part – Newstatenabenn

    • IDF uses 400 tons of explosives to destroy Hezbollah tunnel system
    patheur

    IDF uses 400 tons of explosives to destroy Hezbollah tunnel system

    Sakege Posted on

    Just seconds after Brigadier General Guy Levy, commander of the 98th Division, gave final approval, a Yahalom officer pressed the button and the ground in northern Israel shook.

    He Home Front Command The app reported an earthquake measuring 4.5 on the Richter scale. In reality, it was the detonation of 400 tons of explosives that collapsed Hezbollah’s tunnel system in a Lebanese village near the Israeli border, opposite Kibbutz Misgav Am.

    The fascinating story of the tunnel system in that village began two weeks after the IDF launched a ground maneuver to dismantle Hezbollah strongholds in southern Lebanon.

    Intelligence officials clearly identified Hezbollah’s complex tunnel system built 800 meters from the border and which, at the height of the fighting, housed some 1,000 Hezbollah terrorists, most of them from the Radwan Forceawaiting orders for an incursion into Israel.

    In preliminary conversations between Levy and the commander of the parachute brigade, Colonel Ami Biton, it was evident that the challenges of the mission consisted of several stages: maneuvering to the heart of the village amidst anti-tank and sniper squads, explosive devices , rockets and mortars. They fired projectiles at them. Once they advanced towards the center of the village, the objectives were to kill the terrorists, locate the tunnel system and its branches, and ultimately destroy it.

    IDF discovers Hezbollah tunnel shaft in southern Lebanon on October 29, 2024 (credit: IDF SPOKESPERSON UNIT).

    “When (former Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan) Nasrallah talked about conquering the Galilee, he was referring to terrorists emerging from underground and running towards the Israeli border,” Biton said. “Everything was clear before this operation, except the exact location of the entrances to the strategic tunnels built more than 15 years ago under the town.”

    Military Intelligence officials explained that Hezbollah’s raid plan included launching massive bursts of rockets to overwhelm Iron Dome’s batteries.

    Under cover of this chaos, hundreds of Radwan Force terrorists would emerge from underground, infiltrate Israel and cut off the Galilee strip, similar to Hamas’ October 7 plan.

    The intelligence throughout the IDF ground operation did not disappoint and provided the ground forces with more than just confidence.

    However, after days of fierce fighting in the villages and the elimination of Radwan agents securing the tunnel system from above, forces struggled to locate the entrances to the strategic installations and later found themselves dozens of meters underground.

    Stay up to date with the latest news!

    Subscribe to the Jerusalem Post newsletter

    The searches were prolonged and the signs for the entrances seemed to have disappeared. The paratroopers searched houses and structures, some destroyed by Israeli air force, artillery and tank attacks, reporting every few hours over the network that there was no progress.

    At one point, it was decided to involve experienced Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) coordinators along with paratroopers and Yahalom soldiers.

    How did the IDF and the Shin Bet locate a strategic tunnel?

    Their innovative tactics, reminiscent of operations in Gaza, led to a breakthrough. Military sources involved in operational details said trust between Shin Bet coordinators and paratrooper and Yahalom commanders (built from previous joint underground operations) facilitated smooth collaboration on the ground.

    After four grueling days of combat, all shafts were identified and the tunnel system was exposed. “Without the Shin Bet, we would never have found the tickets. This success is due to intelligence working hand in hand with the combat forces,” sources told Walla.

    Biton’s plan, in coordination with Yahalom and Shin Bet commanders, involved deploying teams throughout the village to locate all the wells. The paratroopers stood guard at more than 30 hidden entrances, ready for surprises from below and prepared to trap the remaining Hezbollah operatives inside. It turned out that most of the agents had fled once the ground maneuver began, leaving only four terrorists inside.

    The 98th Division hoped to capture more agents, but reality played out differently, especially when close-range encounters led to immediate exchanges of gunfire.

    An officer from the 98th Division said: “The task of approaching at night, securing the area and making them surrender or shooting them down is ultimately the soldier’s decision. Even when trying to force surrender, the soldier in the vanguard makes the decision”. and open fire. “You can’t say a word against that.”

    After 48 hours, the Parachute Brigade announced full control over the two areas where tunnel systems were found, allowing engineering units and paratroopers to map what was tens of meters underground.

    In the heart of the village, hundreds of meters from Hezbollah’s strategic site, paratroopers discovered a 250-meter tunnel built to protect Radwan terrorists from airstrikes.

    While exposing him, they eliminated four Radwan terrorists. “When they surfaced, they were terrified. They reported, ‘The village has fallen.’ The message was clear,” the troops said.

    “After the first two days, we only faced rockets and anti-tank missiles; no agent came close, which gave us the confidence to deploy all these explosive devices.”

    The 98th Division noted that Hezbollah engineers invested significant effort not only in constructing the underground system using various methods but also in hiding it under the cover of buildings, houses, yards and infrastructure in the village.

    The tunnel could house 1,000 Hezbollah terrorists

    A source who walked through Hezbollah’s underground facilities described: “The system was built to house up to 1,000 terrorists. If we had surprised them and attacked them while they were inside, not much would have happened. They were supposed to choose the moment to launch their attacks.” . assault against our maneuver.”

    The strategic facility, approximately 1.5 kilometers long, was divided into sections: food storage, mess halls, command and control centers, dormitories, engine rooms, showers, sewage systems and various exit routes.

    “It was incredibly complex. Imagine that commanders and troops arrived at the point designated by the intelligence services and found nothing there,” said a source familiar with the operation.

    “They left only a meter of dirt that couldn’t be seen (while they were inside the tunnel). They didn’t touch the top of the tunnel. When they decided to come out (to the surface), there was an iron device that they pulled down, causing the floor would fall into an empty room, and then they would close a metal cover to hide the well.

    The source estimated that most of the village was unaware of the extent of the entrances and tunnels since, from above them, nothing could be seen. The activity was carried out under strict secrecy by the Shiite organization. Some entrances were located inside homes, patios, garages and terrorist homes. Only after days of fighting were they able to identify where the agents had come from.

    At first, commanders believed that with the extensive tunnel system exposed and mapped, the hardest part was behind them, but the real challenge lay ahead. “Suddenly everyone was wondering how to destroy this,” one officer said of the operation inside the massive tunnel.

    “We brought in a significant presence of intelligence, engineering and technology experts. In the end, it took four nights to transport all the explosives from Israel to the village while the walls were drilled. Fortunately, the entire system worked as planned. Initially, there “There was no clarity on how to proceed with the demolition.”

    Over several nights, paratroopers and Yahalom soldiers unloaded 400 tons of explosives into the Lebanese village. Once the task was completed for three battalions, 40 soldiers remained in the village under controlled conditions to supervise the operation and minimize security risks before the explosion.

    “Ultimately, those responsible for wiring the system for the massive explosion were the company commander of the Parachute Reconnaissance Unit, the commander of the reconnaissance unit, and the commander of the Yahalom company. Everything was built to ensure the full control, even if an incident occurred midway,” explained an official involved in the operation.

    “Experts claimed that Israel had never seen such an explosion. The Russians, in the distant past, detonated more than 1,000 tons simultaneously. But in Israel? We checked the records and the highest amount used before was close to 100 tons.” .

    The soldier said they didn’t hear a big explosion, but instead felt the ground shake. “We wanted the entire explosion to be contained within. For the ground to rise and fall, and then everything collapse inward. When everything collapsed inward, the village itself was not significantly affected. It did exactly what we intended. When you see what “Hezbollah built for twenty years, we knocked it down in 15 days, they understand that they are part of something bigger.”

    There may be other strategic underground facilities throughout Lebanon, and the question remains: If they exist, will the IDF be able to discover them before the ground maneuver concludes?



    Sakege
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like