CHILLING new footage has emerged showing the inside of a Hezbollah terror tunnel that crossed into Israeli territory from Lebanon.
The clip shows crack commandos from the Israeli military storming the 20-meter-long tunnel before destroying it as they continue to target key Hezbollah infrastructure.
IDF Entrance of the terror tunnel that crossed the Israeli-Lebanon border[/caption]
IDF It was built dangerously close to the Israeli settlement of Zar’it that sits right next to it[/caption]
IDF IDF said the tunnel had no exit built into the Israeli territory[/caption]
Located by the IDF during physical raids, the terror tunnel crossed the UN-recognized blue line by 10 meters at the western sector of the border near the Lebanese village of Marwahin.
Troops also found weapons inside the tunnel, including explosives and anti-tank missiles.
It was built dangerously close to the Israeli settlement of Zar’it that sits right next to it.
IDF said Hezbollah began constructing the tunnel some two years ago, but the tunnel had no exit built into the Israeli territory – and that no Israeli settlement was ever under threat by the tunnel.
According to the IDF, there are no other tunnels known to cross into Israel from Lebanon.
It comes after Israeli special forces stormed another Hezbollah tunnel and found a command centre with weapons.
Footage showed the IDF’s elite soldiers moving through the 250m-long tunnel before they destroyed it as part of their invasion.
The tunnel was only 300 metres from the border and did not cross into Israel, the IDF says.
The rooms in the underground hideout contain showers, a kitchen, and even a small relaxation spot with a tea kettle and a TV.
The IDF said the tunnels were found on the border during the cross-border attacks conducted by special forces over recent weeks.
AFPA picture taken on May 22, 2020, shows part of a 200-metre-long tunnel that Hezbollah fighters built over three years to combat Israeli forces[/caption]
YoutubeTroops also found a living room section where Hezbollah fighters drank tea[/caption]
YoutubeHezbollah’s fridge was full of food, including desserts[/caption]
APWeapons used by Hezbollah seized during combat operations in Lebanon are displayed[/caption]
MIDDLE EAST TINDERBOX
Last night, Hezbollah’s acting leader issued a chilling warning to Israel from inside a hidden bunker – vowing to furiously fight on.
Naim Qassem, 71, gave a television address from inside war-torn Lebanon as the biggest-ever rocket blitz from the terror group rained down on an Israeli city.
The stand-in boss Qassem defiantly said the terror group is still intact despite Israel dealing “powerful blows” in recent weeks.
He said: “The party’s leadership and the resistance [Hezbollah] are meticulously organised.
“We have overcome painful blows.
“We are firing hundreds of rockets and dozens of drones. A large number of settlements and cities are under the fire of the resistance.
“Our capabilities are fine and our fighters are deployed along the front lines.”
The acting chief also said there are “no vacant posts” in Hezbollah’s leadership as he appeared to speak from a secret underground bunker.
He promised Israel that they would continue to bring the fight to them.
Despite becoming the acting leader after Nasrallah’s death, Qassem has not confirmed if he will remain in the role going forward.
He added that the new commander in chief will be named soon with the war setting back the usual procedures around succession.
Qassem also spoke on a potential ceasefire to stop the back-and-forth strikes in the region.
The talks are currently being supported by Lebanese parliamentary speaker Nabih Berri who is a key Hezbollah ally.
No details of what the temporary pause in fighting may look like have been revealed so far.
Qassem remained tight-lipped about the conditions that Hezbollah may demand to halt Israel’s invasion.
He was thrown into the top role within the Iran-backed para militant group after a range of calculated IDF strikes wiped out Hezbollah’s chain of command one by one.
The biggest scalp saw former chief Hassan Nasrallah targeted with a number of bunker-buster bombs in Lebanon.
Hezbollah’s weapons smuggling chief was also killed in yet another Israeli kingpin strike in Lebanon yesterday.
The IDF said Suhail Hussein Husseini controlled transfers of huge stashes of advanced weapons through Syria from allies in Iran.
Prime Minister Netanyahu has also confirmed today his forces had killed Nasrallah’s original successor before he could take up his new post.
In a plea to the people of Lebanon to reject the terrorists infesting their nation, Netanyahu claimed for the first time that Hashem Safieddine was the latest kingpin killed.
He said: “We damaged the capabilities of Hezbollah; we killed Nasrallah, Nasrallah’s successor, and the successor of Nasrallah’s successor.”
Israel also moved its first reserve division into southwestern Lebanon to carry out “limited, localised and targeted operations”.
It said the 146th Division will operate alongside another brigade and additional forces to “expose and dismantle terrorist infrastructure”.
A year of devastation in Middle East
CHAOS has eurpted acorss the Middle East since Hamas launched a brutual campaign of terror on October 7 last year.
It was the catalyst that plunged four nations – Israel, Palestine, Lebanon and Iran – into war, killing tens of thousands and marking a historic shift in the Middle East.
Hundreds of terrorists stormed the border between Gaza and Israel, slaughtering over 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping hundreds more.
In the months since Israel has almost completely destroyed the strip to eradicate the group and bring home its trapped people.
More than 41,000 people in Gaza have been killed – almost 10,000 of them being children.
IDF claims at least 11,000 of them were Hamas men.
Amid the ongoing military operation, bombings and airstrikes have flattened the majority of the buildings, and the strip has been reduced to rubble.
Heavy airstrikes, the blocking of aid and the targeting of hospitals and refugee camps where the IDF says terrorists are hiding have left most of Gaza a smoking wasteland.
And for those who are still alive and crammed into parts of the tiny strip, malnutrition is rife and famine is a fast-approaching fear.
Experts have branded the spiralling situation in the Middle East as “one of the biggest human rights crises in the world right now” – triggered by the October 7 atrocity.
Israel has been the subject of enormous international scrutiny as the enormous death toll of civilians in Gaza continues to grow bigger.
But amid international cries for peace, Israeli PM Netanyahu has vowed not to stop until Hamas is destroyed.
Israel’s military pursuit in Gaza has also crossed the borders of Lebanon, with the IDF now conducting a targeted military invasion against Hezbollah – Iran’s top terror proxy group.
Iran – Israel’s archenemy – has suffered major blows with the death of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and has targeted Israel with direct missile strikes twice – with the latest hit taking place just last week.
The world now awaits Israel’s response to the Iranian strike, and how Ali Khamenei’s regime will react to it, as an all-out Middle East – which could potentially drag the West – is on the brink.
AFpAn Israeli man inspects the damage in his apartment after a Hezbollah rocket blitz[/caption]
Reuters A decimated car following an Israeli strike on Beirut’s southern suburbs today[/caption]