Israel destroys Hezbollah tunnels intended for Galilee attack | The Jewish Press – JewishPress.com | Pesach Benson / TPS | 4. Tishri 5785 – Saturday, October 5, 2024

Image source: IDF Spokesman/TPS-IL

Israeli commandos and combat engineers destroyed Hezbollah tunnels near the Israeli border as the military released footage showing the Iran-backed terror group was preparing for an invasion of the Galilee. Israel also confirmed an airstrike on a Hezbollah command center located on the grounds of a hospital in Bint Jbeil.

Israel Defense Forces spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Saturday evening that the tunnels came within 300 meters of the Israeli border. Videos from inside the tunnels showed packed battle bags from Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force.

“These facilities were intended to be used by Hezbollah terrorists [potential] Attack on the churches of Galilee,” he said. The tunnels included living quarters, showers and kitchens and were well stocked with food.

The tunnels did not lead into Israeli territory.

The IDF also revealed a nighttime airstrike on Hezbollah operatives who were using a mosque – located on the grounds of Bint Jbeil Martyr Salah Ghandour Hospital – as a command center.

The army said Hezbollah used the site “to plan and carry out terrorist attacks against IDF forces and the State of Israel.”

The IDF added that before the attack it sent text messages to residents and phone calls to local officials “demanding the immediate cessation of all acts of terrorism committed in the hospital.”

Since Israeli ground operations began in southern Lebanon, 440 Hezbollah terrorists have been killed, including 30 field commanders, Hagari said.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah continued to fire rockets into northern Israel. Three people were injured on Saturday in Deir al-Asad, an Arab village in the Galilee, and were hospitalized at the Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya with minor injuries. Magen David Adom emergency responders also treated 10 residents for anxiety.

Other missiles and drones targeted Haifa Bay, Kibbutz Adamit in the western Galilee, Nazareth, communities in the Jezreel Valley and Wadi Ara in the area known as the “Arab Triangle” because of its cluster of Arab communities south of Haifa.

After the Hamas attacks on October 7, 2023, Iran-backed Hezbollah began firing rockets and firing drones at communities in northern Israel, killing 49 people. According to government data as of September 29, more than 68,000 residents of northern Israel have been displaced from their homes. Hezbollah leaders have repeatedly said they would continue attacks to prevent Israelis from returning to their homes.

One of Israel’s war goals is the safe return of northern residents to their homes.

Israeli officials are calling for the disarmament and withdrawal of Hezbollah from southern Lebanon in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006. This includes all areas south of the Litani River such as the cities of Nabatieh and Tire as well as the Beqaa Valley in eastern Lebanon.