Israel claims it has unearthed Hezbollah’s web of tunnels in southern Lebanon

Israeli forces target Hezbollah tunnels in southern Lebanon, aiming to dismantle the militant group's underground network.

Israeli forces have spent much of the past year destroying Hamas’ vast underground network in Gaza. They are now focused on dismantling tunnels and other hideouts belonging to Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon.

Scarred by Hamas’ deadly raid into Israel last year that sparked the war in Gaza, Israel says it aims to prevent a similar incursion across its northern border from ever getting off the ground.

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The Israeli military has combed through the dense brush of southern Lebanon for the past two weeks, uncovering what it says are Hezbollah’s deep attack capabilities — highlighted by a tunnel system equipped with weapons caches and rocket launchers that Israel says pose a direct threat to nearby communities.

Israel’s war against the Iran-backed militant group stretches far inside Lebanon, and its airstrikes in recent weeks have killed more than 1,700 people, about a quarter of whom were women and children, according to local health authorities. But its ground campaign has centered on a narrow patch of land just along the border, where Hezbollah has had a longstanding presence.

Hezbollah, which has called for Israel’s destruction, is the Arab world’s most significant paramilitary force. It began firing rockets into Israel a day after Hamas' attack. After nearly a year of tit-for-tat fighting with Hezbollah, Israel launched its ground invasion into southern Lebanon on Oct. 1 and has since sent thousands of troops into the rugged terrain.

Even as it continues to bolster its forces, Israel says its invasion consists of “limited, localized and targeted ground raids” that are meant to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure so that tens of thousands of displaced Israelis can return home. The fighting also has uprooted more than 1 million Lebanese in the past month.