Israeli commandos and combat engineers destroyed Hezbollah tunnels near the Israeli border as the military released footage showing the Iran-backed terror group was prepared to invade the Galilee. Israel also confirmed carrying out an airstrike on a Hezbollah command center embedded inside a Bint Jbeil hospital compound.
Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said on Saturday night that the tunnels approached within 300 meters of the Israeli border. Video from inside the tunnels showed fully packed combat bags belonging to Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force.
“These compounds were to be used by Hezbollah terrorists in a [potential] attack on the Galilee communities” he said. The tunnels included living quarters, showers, kitchens, and were well-stocked with food.
The tunnels did not cross into Israeli territory.
The IDF also disclosed an overnight airstrike on Hezbollah operatives who were using a mosque — located inside the compound of Bint Jbeil’s Martyr Salah Ghandour Hospital — as a command center.
The army said Hezbollah used the site “to plan and carry out acts of terror against IDF troops and the State of Israel.”
The IDF added that prior to the strike, it sent text messages to residents and phone calls to local officials “demanding that all acts of terror carried out at the hospital cease immediately.”
Since the launch of Israel’s ground operations in southern Lebanon, 440 Hezbollah terrorists have been killed, including 30 field commanders, Hagari said.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah continued firing rockets at northern Israel. Three people were injured in Deir al-Asad, an Arab village in the Galilee on Saturday and hospitalized at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya with light injuries. Magen David Adom emergency responders also treated 10 residents for anxiety.
Other missiles and drones targeted the Haifa Bay area, Kibbutz Adamit in the Western Galilee, Nazareth, Jezreel Valley communities, and Wadi Ara in the area known as the “Arab Triangle” for its cluster of Arab communities south of Haifa.
After the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023, the Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets and launching drones at northern Israel communities, killing 49 people. According to figures released by the government on Sept. 29, more than 68,000 residents of northern Israel are displaced from their homes. Hezbollah leaders have repeatedly said they would continue the attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes.
Israel’s war goals include securely returning northern residents to their homes.
Israeli officials demand Hezbollah to be disarmed and removed from southern Lebanon in compliance with UN Security Council resolution 1701 which ended the Second Lebanon War of 2006. This includes all areas south of the Litani River such as the cities of Nabatieh and Tyre, as well as the Beqaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.
