The IDF is increasing its pace of destroying Hezbollah’s terror infrastructure in southern Lebanon, following instructions given by Defense Minister Israel Katz.
The focus is on Hezbollah strongholds, most of which are Shi’ite villages that the organization built with Iranian funding over more than two decades.
According to officers in the IDF’s Northern Command, Hezbollah, with Iranian guidance, built a strategic plan centered around military infrastructure.
The plan focused on villages including Kafr Kila, Al Khiam, Bint Jbeil, and Taibe, which sit along strategic routes and ridges whose control prevents Israeli ground maneuvers deep into Lebanon while simultaneously granting Hezbollah the ability to quickly reach the Israeli border should it want to attack the Galilee.
During searches conducted in these areas, the IDF uncovered countless facilities used by thousands of terrorists as shelters for extended periods, allowing them to also emerge from hidden positions and surprise the IDF.
Israeli troops also located weapons depots, command centers, observation posts, and launch sites.
The IDF is not only destroying Hezbollah infrastructure during these operations, but is also working to open new routes that will provide easier access to operational areas, improve force security, and enable faster supply deliveries.
The routes will also allow maintenance teams to enter the Lebanese territory and repair engineering and armored combat vehicles operating in the area.
Villages built as military ‘fortresses’
Some villages were built as military “fortresses” designed to provide Hezbollah terrorists with a high level of engineering protection, primarily from IDF airstrikes. IDF searches located infrastructure in the heart of villages and towns, beneath civilian homes, including in areas such as Zawtar al Sharqiya.
The IDF noted that the continued engineering activity in these areas also prevents Hezbollah from carrying out guerrilla operations.
Officers currently operating in the field also emphasized that, with intelligence support, searches are being carried out in smaller villages such as Beit al Sayyad, located south of Tyre, where Hezbollah invested heavily in infrastructure. The IDF is using its engineering capabilities to destroy these sites.
Meanwhile, security officials claim that the Lebanese army has so far failed to achieve the expected engineering results based on understandings mediated by the US. They claim the Lebanese army fears Hezbollah and is therefore not moving quickly to locate and destroy terrorist infrastructure.
The officials added that the IDF will need to continue its engineering activity in southern Lebanon in order to collapse Hezbollah’s strategic infrastructure. They said that, taken together, these efforts would deliver a severe blow to the Shiite organization.
