Hezbollah has upgraded its network of tunnels in southern Lebanon to secure
itself against airstrikes in a future war with Israel, according to a report by
a Lebanese newspaper on Monday.
Al-Joumhouria said its source was a
diplomatic report issued by an unspecified European embassy, which it said
contained information from “a number of Western security
agencies.”
Al-Joumhouria claimed the report said that “Iranian experts”
had supervised the digging of a new tunnel network in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley
region, which borders with Syria, following the Second Lebanon War.
After
that war in 2006, IDF soldiers uncovered an extensive network of Hezbollah
tunnels in southern Lebanon.
The fortified underground structures enabled
terrorists to exit their bunkers, fire mortars at Israeli troops and return to
the bunkers without being seen.
The report said Hezbollah had dug a new
network of tunnels in an area south of the Litani River. The tunnels are
equipped with state-ofthe- art ventilation, lighting and communication networks
and are built to resist land and air operations, according to the
report.
The report also claimed that the tunnels contain underground
stores of weapons and ammunitions, which have been stashed at various
locations.
According to Al-Joumhouria, the tunnels are equipped with
dormitories, medical facilities, kitchens, toilets, water and heating systems
that allow dozens of terrorists to live underground for weeks at a
time.
The report added that Hezbollah had purchased large tracts of land
years ago in the Hermel region near the Syrian border, and had drilled tunnels
though the mountains of the Beqaa region, reaching deep into Syrian
territory.
Al-Joumhouria said these tunnels and warehouses had “strategic
importance” because they are located far from military confrontations and would
allow Hezbollah to smuggle ammunition and rockets through Syrian territory in
the event of a war with Israel.
The newspaper quoted sources saying
Israel’s next war with Lebanon could be a “tunnel war,” and said Israel was
monitoring the tunnel drilling process using sophisticated technology developed
after the Second Lebanon War.
The report said Israel had conducted
maneuvers in tunnels similar to Hezbollah’s, which could help the IDF excel in a
future conflict.
Al-Joumhouria also quoted an unnamed Hezbollah source as
saying the “Israeli enemy” would be “surprised” in the event of a war, saying
that the response would be “entirely and radically different” from the Second
Lebanon War.
The newspaper quoted the source as saying that it was “no
longer an issue of tunnels, but about of missiles,” which were hidden all over
the country.