TWO DECADES BURIED: IDF Exposes And Destroys Hezbollah's Nerve Center
Gallery
Videos
The IDF has released dramatic new footage from deep inside what it calls Hezbollah's subterranean fortress beneath the Ali al-Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon, offering a rare look at a network built over two decades with Iranian funding and now completely destroyed. Body-camera video from IDF troops and the elite Yahalom combat-engineering unit shows soldiers moving through narrow, concrete-lined passages strung with hanging wires and lighting, past a weathered green door and scattered debris, while other clips show forces dismantling rocky tunnel entrances marked with Hezbollah graffiti deep underground. The military says the complex, spanning roughly 5.4 kilometers and functioning as a command center for Hezbollah's Badr Unit, contained weapons rooms, generator rooms, living quarters, showers, and a kitchen, allowing dozens of operatives to fight and shelter underground for extended periods. Troops uncovered dozens of Iranian-made rockets, missiles, and drones along with anti-tank weapons and hundreds of mines before the IDF detonated the network on September 10 using roughly 1,100 tons of explosives.
The operation, which the IDF describes as one of the most complex it has carried out in recent years, unfolded over roughly three months as part of a broader four-month campaign that saw troops cross the Litani River and use deception tactics to catch Hezbollah off guard. Israeli officials say the estimated 50 Hezbollah fighters holed up in the tunnels were either killed or fled during the siege, and that no Iranian personnel were found inside despite earlier rumors. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said the destruction completes full operational control over the ridge, above and below ground, with Netanyahu calling it the destruction of Iran's largest outpost outside its own borders. With the tunnels gone, the IDF says Hezbollah has permanently lost the ability to use what was once its most fortified position in southern Lebanon to stage attacks against Israel.