'Built to accommodate 1,000 terrorists': Uncovering and destroying a Hezbollah tunnel system

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

The Home Front Command 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 close to 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, which, at the peak of the fighting, housed around 1,000 Hezbollah terrorists, most of them from the Radwan Force, awaiting orders for a raid into Israel.

In preliminary discussions between Levy and the Paratroopers Brigade Commander, Col. Ami Biton, it was evident that the mission's challenges were multi-staged: maneuvering into the heart of the village amid anti-tank and sniper squads, explosive devices, rockets, and mortar shells being fired at them. Once advancing to the village center, the objectives were to kill terrorists, locate the tunnel system and its branches, and ultimately destroy it.

"When [former Hezbollah secretary-general Hassan] Nasrallah spoke of conquering the Galilee, he meant terrorists emerging from underground and rushing to the Israeli border," Biton said. "Everything was clear before this operation, except for the exact locations of the entrances to the strategic tunnels built over 15 years ago beneath the village."

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

Under the cover of this chaos, hundreds of Radwan Force terrorists were to emerge from the underground, infiltrate Israel, and sever the Galilee panhandle, akin to Hamas's October 7 plan.

Intelligence throughout the IDF's ground operation did not disappoint and provided ground forces with more than just confidence. 

Yet, after days of fierce fighting in the villages and the elimination of Radwan operatives securing the tunnel system from above, the forces struggled to locate the strategic facility's entrances and later found dozens of meters underground. 

The searches were prolonged, and indications of the entrances seemed to have disappeared. Paratroopers scoured homes and structures, some destroyed by the Israeli air force, artillery, and tank strikes, 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 alongside Paratroopers and Yahalom soldiers. 

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

Their innovative tactics, reminiscent of operations in Gaza, led to a breakthrough. Military sources involved in the operational details said trust between the Shin Bet coordinators and the Paratroopers and Yahalom commanders—built over previous joint underground operations—facilitated seamless 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 entrances. This success is thanks to intelligence working hand in hand with 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 shafts. Paratroopers stood guard at over 30 hidden entrances, ready for surprises from below and prepared to trap any remaining Hezbollah operatives inside. It turned out most of the operatives had fled once the ground maneuver began, leaving only four terrorists inside.

The 98th Division had hoped to capture more operatives, but reality unfolded differently, especially when encounters at close range led to immediate fire exchanges. 

One officer from the 98th Division said, "The task of closing in at night, securing the area, and making them surrender or taking them down is ultimately the soldier's decision. Even when trying to force surrender, the soldier at the forefront makes the call and opens fire. You can't say a word against that."

After 48 hours, the Paratroopers Brigade announced full control over the two areas where tunnel systems were found, allowing engineering and paratrooper units to map out what lay dozens of meters underground. 

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

While exposing it, they eliminated four Radwan terrorists. "By the time they surfaced, they were terrified. They reported back, saying, 'The village has fallen.' The message was clear," said the troops. 

"After the first two days, we only faced rockets and anti-tank missiles; no operative approached, giving 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 concealing it under the cover of buildings, homes, courtyards, and infrastructure in the village. 

Tunnel could accommodate 1,000 Hezbollah terrorists

A source who walked through Hezbollah's underground facility described, "The system was built to accommodate up to 1,000 terrorists. If we had surprised and attacked them while they were inside, not much would have happened. They were supposed to choose the timing to launch their assault against our maneuver."

The strategic facility, approximately 1.5 kilometers long, was divided into sections: food storage, dining areas, command and control centers, sleeping quarters, machine rooms, showers, sewage systems, and various exit routes. 

"It was incredibly complex. Imagine commanders and troops reaching the intelligence-designated point only to find nothing there," recounted a source familiar with the operation. 

"They left just a meter of earth you couldn't see (while standing inside the tunnel). They didn't touch the tunnel's upper part. When they decided to emerge (to the surface), there was an iron device they would pull down, causing the ground to fall into an empty room, and then they'd close a metal cover to hide the shaft."

The source estimated that most of the village was unaware of the entrances and tunnels' extent since, when standing above them, nothing was visible. The activity was conducted under strict secrecy by the Shiite organization. Some entrances were located inside homes, courtyards, garages, and the homes of terrorists. Only after days of fighting did they manage to identify where the operatives had emerged from.

Commanders initially believed that once the extensive tunnel system was exposed and mapped, the hardest part was behind them, but the true challenge was ahead. "Suddenly, everyone was asking how to destroy this thing," said an officer about the operation inside the massive tunnel. 

"We brought in a significant presence of intelligence, engineering, and technology experts. Ultimately, it took four nights to transport all the explosives from Israel to the village while drilling into the walls. Fortunately, the entire system functioned as planned. Initially, 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. After the task was completed for three battalions, 40 soldiers remained in the village under controlled conditions to oversee the operation and minimize safety risks before the explosion. 

"Ultimately, the ones responsible for connecting the system for the massive blast were the company commander of the Paratrooper Reconnaissance Unit, the reconnaissance unit commander, and the Yahalom company commander. Everything was constructed to ensure full control, even if an incident occurred midway," an official involved in the operation explained. 

"Experts stated that Israel had never seen such an explosion. The Russians, in the distant past, detonated over 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 did not hear much of a blast but rather felt the earth shake. "We wanted the entire explosion contained within. For the ground to rise and fall, and then everything collapses inward. When it all collapsed inward, the village itself wasn’t significantly affected. It did exactly what we intended. When they see that what Hezbollah built over twenty years, we took down in 15 days, they understand they are part of something bigger."

There may be other strategic underground facilities across Lebanon, and the question remains: if they do exist, will the IDF be able to uncover them before the ground maneuver concludes?