DRAMATIC footage has been captured showing Israel blowing up Hezbollah terror targets in massive secret raids.
Special forces troops today revealed to have been on missions inside Lebanon for the past 10 months – and thwarted a huge October 7-style Hezbollah attack.
TwitterThe IDF targeted Hezbollah infrastructure across southern Lebanon in targeted secret raids[/caption]
TwitterIDF claims 70 missions were mounted to smash fortified tunnels[/caption]
TwitterMilitary chiefs claim they found heavy machine guns, anti-tank missiles, rockets and explosives in the black ops missions[/caption]
TwitterIDF spokesperson RAdm. Daniel Hagari revealed Hezbollah’s plan to ‘Conquer the Galilee’[/caption]
The unbelievable footage shows targeted raids against Hezbollah as fiery explosions are captured across Lebanon.
Other clips show the IDF venturing down into the terror group’s tunnels in southern Lebanon that could have been within the past 12 months.
In the biggest ever series of black ops staged by Israeli forces, 70 missions were mounted to smash fortified tunnels, command centres and tons of weapons.
A senior military source revealed the terror group’s elite Radwan Forces had been on six-hour standby to attack northern Israel on October 9 or 10 last year.
And the bloodbath would have been even more appalling than the attacks by Hamas from Gaza which left 1,200 dead and 251 kidnapped.
Around 5,000 Radwan fighters were said to have been awaiting the green light from their fanatical Iran-backed leader, Hassan Nasrallah to unleash hell.
But they were thwarted when Israeli intelligence got wind of their plan and rushed forces to the border to deter the move.
Senior sources yesterday revealed for the first time that teams of 20-40 Israeli special forces teams were then ordered in on danger missions to remove the threat.
Crack teams spent days hiding out near frontier towns and villages after an Israeli blitz forced Radwan fighters to abandon their “start line” attack positions next to the frontier.
They then spent days at a time dismantling the terrorist lairs by mining them with explosives or calling in massive air strikes, which were shown on drone video footage to journalists yesterday.
In one house, just 200 metres from the Lebanese border, teams found a terror tunnel shaft with a concealed door under a child’s bed in a nursery.
It led to a 150 metre tunnel – one of dozens found and destroyed – with a purpose built bunker where fighters were to lie in wait before crossing the frontier.
Another 300 metre tunnel in Kfarkela – on the border – was found on the site stashed with uniforms, grab bags full of ammunition and shrink-wrapped personal weapons.
In the eastern village of Meiss El Jabal found 30 tons of weapons and tunnels extending to just 30 metres from the border which were wiped out by an Israeli air strike.
TwitterFootage showed Israel blowing up Hezbollah terror targets in secret raids[/caption]
Military chiefs at a northern Israeli base also told how more huge find were made at the villages of Labbouneh and Ata Ash Shab including heavy machine guns, anti-tank missiles, rockets and explosives.
Chilling finds made next to the border included high explosive charges designed to blow open border fences – like those used to breach the Gaza perimeter fence on October 7.
An October 7 attack in the north would have been on a far larger scale than the Hamas outrages in the south with many more deaths and kidnappings.
But Hezbollah – then under the leadership of fanatical Hassan Nasrallah – did not plan to stop there.
His masterplan was not only a bloodbath and kidnapping spree but to occupy and hold the whole of the Galilee region in Israel’s north, according to plans found by Israel.
The current limited land invasion is now intended to push back Hezbollah’s war machine to ensure the threat of huge carnage is removed.
A senior army officer showing off the haul at an Israeli base yesterday – along with a replica of a hezbollah terror tunnel – said: “Their plans were advanced and they were ready.
ReutersSmoke billows after an Israeli Air Force air strike on a village in southern Lebanon[/caption]
“They were definitely planning something even more horrifying than the October 7 attacks.
“I live in the north and have learned to live with daily rockets and mortars but we simply cannot bring up our children under the threat of that horror.
“We discovered and destroyed part of their network but not all all of it – and that is now the job of the division of troops who have gone in in much larger numbers.
“I hope we can achieve this and degrade the threat in one of two weeks, but it may take more time.
“But we cannot live under this shadow any more.
IDF chiefs said – despite the huge risk – Hezbiollah troops had not confronted them and only one soldier was wounded in months of undercover ops.
Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant said as he showed off captured weapons: “Everything you see here – the weapons, missiles, explosives, RPGs – they were found by the IDF in areas from where Radwan forces planned launch attacks to kill and kidnap Israeli citizens.
“We are eliminating the Hezbollah terrorist organisation in southern Lebanon and dismantling its Radwan forces along the entire border.”
Heavy fighting continued to rage in southern Lebanon today/yesterday as 25,000 Israeli troops stepped up their ground war to smash Hezbollah rocket sites.
And chilling warnings emerged later yesterday as US sources reported a major missile threat from Iran was “imminent.”
Intelligence was reported to indicate that ballistic missiles had been transferred to launch sites in Western Iran.
A source said: “The threat is not currently airborne according to the IDF. Missiles take 12 minutes to reach Israel. Multiple sources indicate an imminent launch.”
Israel said it was ready to deal with any aerial threat from Iran and that its military stood at at “peak readiness” for any attack.
Israeli army spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said in a statement that Israel had “dealt with this kind of threat in the past and we will deal with it now as well”.
Israeli officials said the anticipated Iranian attack will include drones and missiles, as well ballistic missiles and could happen “in the coming hours.”
Iran launched more than 320 missiles and drones at Israel in April but virtually all were intercepted by Israel’s air defences along with British, US, French and Jordanian warjets.
Israeli soldiers have begun their ground offensive
A US official has warned of “severe consequences” if Iran launches a missile attack
Israeli tanks seen in southern Lebanon
When that attack was launched, ballistic missiles took 12 minutes to reach Israel, cruise missiles two hours and drones around nine hours to reach their targets.
Officials said Iran would now be targeting three military air bases, and “an intelligence headquarters north of Tel Aviv” which was understood to have been evacuated.
All-out war was averted in April when Israel launched a measured response with a single, successful precision strike on an Iranian anti-aircraft site.
But diplomatic sources warned that Israel is likely to strike back on a much bigger scale if attacked again triggering a potentially catastrophic regional conflict.
As fighting in southern Lebanon intensified yesterday, Israeli military chiefs told people in more than 20 towns in southern Lebanon to evacuate immediately.
Spokesman Avichay Adraee warned that anyone near Hezbollah members or equipment would be putting their lives in danger, adding,: “The IDF does not want to harm you”.
“Any home used by Hezbollah for its military needs is expected to be targeted.”
Israeli commanders insisted the ongoing invasion would be “limited, localised and targeted” and would not involve an occupation.
But clashes intensified through the night with Hezbollah launching rocket and artillery barrages toward Israeli troops massing on the border.
By dawn, loud booms could be heard across the frontier as an Israeli attack helicopter was seen launching rockets toward enemy positions.
Israel’s battle-hardened 98th Division were leading the onslaught after being moved north from fighting Hezbollah allies Hamas in Gaza.
The force – believed to number at least 25,000 – included crack paratroopers, commandos and engineers and were being guided by special forces teams who identified targets.
Commanders have ordered in a force around twice the size of the last Israeli invasion which withdrew after around a month in 2006.
An Israeli invasion will aim to push Hezbollah forces back across the Litani River running east to west above territory north of the frontier.
Hezbollah was supposed to have left the strip of land under the terms of a 2006 ceasefire deal but has continued to fire more than 9,000 rockets from bases in the area since October 7.
Troops were also understood to be working to clear and dismantle miles of Hezbollah tunnels close to the border.
Terror troops responded to the onslaught by launching early hours rocket and artillery barrages against the border town of Metula inside Israel.
Surviving Hezbollah chiefs – still reeling from the bunker bomb assassination of their leader Hassan Nasrallah five days ago – vowed to fight to the last man yesterday.
But in his first address since Nasrallah’ death, acting leader Naim Qassem appeared sweaty and uncomfortable as he signalled his badly wounded group’s defiance.
Qassem – one of the few Hezbollah chiefs still standing after at least 20 were taken out in recent days – dabbed his face with a handkerchief as he recorded his speech in a shuttered room.
Nasrallah’s deputy said: “We will face any possibility and we are ready if the Israelis decide to enter by land and the resistance forces are ready for a ground engagement.
It comes as…
Elite IDF paratrooper & commando units launch ground invasion in Lebanon
‘Fierce’ clashes erupt between IDF troops and Hezbollah terrorists
Israel declares no-go zone for Lebanese civilians south of the Litani River
Israeli jets launch airstrikes on Beirut and southern towns in Lebanon
Israel vows to ‘crush Hezbollah’ after launching ‘Northern Arrows’ invasion
Hezbollah fanatics launch retaliatory rocket strikes against Tel Aviv
UK Government charters emergency flight out of Lebanon for fleeing Brits
Iran is “preparing for imminent strike on Israel within hours”
“Despite the losses of its commanders, the attacks against civilians throughout Lebanon, and great sacrifices.
“We will not budge from our position. We will continue to support Gaza and to defend Lebanon.
Lebanese troops – whose forces operate independently of Iran-backed Hezbollah – pulled back to sidelines positions three miles from the border and did not take part in the fighting.
Lebanese media reported heavy shelling in the towns of Khiam and Wazzani, on the southern border with Israel.
US State department spokesman Matthew Miller confirmed Israel informed American allies about the raids, which he said were as “limited operations focused on Hezbollah infrastructure near the border”.
But more clashes were also reported early today as Hezbollah fighters claimed to have repelled a push into orchards in Adaisseh and Kafr Kela near the southern frontier.
More battlefields were reported to have erupted around the southern communities of Blida and Ainata.
Fighting erupted in an 850 square km area which is home to an estimated 20,000 people, including refugees from the bloodbath civil war in Syria.
But thousands of Syrian refugees were said to be fleeing back home – fearing the Israeli onslaught will be even worse than the mayhem back home.
Israeli sources said the focus of the operation was on clearing out Hezbollah terror sites to halt rocket attacks which have driven 60,000 from homes in Northern Israel in the last 11 months.
Israeli diplomatic sources said yesterday that the military aim was to push terror group’s forces back beyond the Litani River, in line with a UN Security Council resolution.
Once this objective is achieved, talks could begin to broker a way of enforcing the resolution to allow refugees on both sides of the border to return home.
But analysts fear huge civilian casualties – and fallout which will suck regional and world powers into a widening war.
Elsewhere in Lebanon, Israeli commanders said its warjets targeted a Hezbollah weapons manufacturing site close to Beirut Airport.
And Israeli air strike was also reported to have killed three people and wounded nine in Syria’s capital Damascus overnight.
But the onslaught has so far failed to stop Hezbollah launching rockets toward Isreali soil with more interceptions early today/ yesterday (Tues)
One man was reported to have been moderately hurt by shrapnel in Sharon in central Israel.
The aftermath of an Israeli airstrike in Beirut
AFPBuildings turned into rubble in Beirut[/caption]
GettyThe warning comes after a series of airstrikes[/caption]