IDF Reveals Longest Hezbollah Terror Tunnel

Stand for Israel  |  May 30, 2019

While much of the violence directed at Israel comes from Gaza-based terror groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad to the south, Israel’s northern border continues to face threats, as well. The Times of Israel’s Judah Ari Gross reports on the “longest, most significant” terror tunnel yet built by Hezbollah, which was discovered by the IDF and which will be destroyed in the coming days:

The army said the tunnel was dug to a depth of 80 meters (260 feet), was a kilometer (3280 feet) long and penetrated 77 meters (250 feet) into Israeli territory. It began close to the Lebanese village of Ramiya, the IDF said, with an exit close to the Israeli villages of Shtula and Zar’it…

The IDF said the tunnel was equipped with advanced infrastructure for electricity, ventilation and communications systems, and that the passage would have taken years to complete…

“We are neutralizing the flagship tunnel of the Hezbollah terrorist group. This is an attack tunnel,” said Col. Roi Levi, commander of the Baram Regional Brigade, where the passage was found.

The IDF believes that this tunnel — and the five others found this winter — was built with the specific purpose of allowing thousands of Hezbollah terrorists to stage an infiltration attack on military and civilian targets in northern Israel as a surprise opening maneuver in a future war.

Approximately eight years ago, Hezbollah created a special forces unit — known as the Radwan Unit — specifically tasked with crossing into Israel and causing as much mayhem and destruction as possible both for the sake of the destruction itself and for the “symbolism” of having troops carry out attacks inside Israel.

“The IDF has unconcealed and covert [monitoring] equipment. We know the enemy, we are tracking it and we are studying it,” Levi said…