[News] Hezbollah reveals massive underground base, reminds Israel retaliation imminent

[Anti-Imperialist News]

 Hezbollah reveals massive underground base, reminds Israel retaliation
imminent

The Lebanese resistance is known to have a massive, sophisticated network
of tunnels in the county's south

News Desk <https://thecradle.co/authors/news-desk-9>

AUG 16, 2024 -
https://thecradle.co/articles/hezbollah-reveals-massive-underground-base-reminds-israel-retaliation-imminent
(Photo credit: Hezbollah Military Media)

Hezbollah released a video on 16 August showcasing a highly secretive
underground facility, which serves as a missile storage and launch site.

The video is titled “Our mountains are our storage sites,” indicating that
the underground facility is part of Hezbollah’s large and sophisticated
tunnel network built underneath southern Lebanon’s mountainous terrain.

The facility is named Imad-4, after the late Hezbollah commander Imad
Mughniyeh, who was assassinated by Israel in 2008.

The video starts by showing motorcycles and trucks equipped with missile
launch pads moving through the facility’s long tunnels. Later, one of the
trucks is seen positioning to fire missiles out of the facility as a tunnel
entrance opens up.

*Al Mayadeen*
<https://www.almayadeen.net/news/politics/%D8%AD%D8%B2%D8%A8-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%84%D9%87-%D9%8A%D9%83%D8%B4%D9%81-%D8%B9%D9%86-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%A3%D8%A9--%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AF-4--%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B5%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%AE%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D8%AD%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B1%D8%B6---%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%B0%D8%A7-%D9%81>
said on Friday that the facility’s name, Imad-4, indicates that other sites
like it exist.

It sends the message that Hezbollah “is not afraid to go to war, and is
prepared for it if [Israel] decides to go too far in escalation and
aggression,” the outlet wrote.

It also serves as the “obituary” of Israel’s “battle between wars,” the
campaign
<https://thecradle.co/articles/israels-battle-between-wars-has-failed> of
airstrikes on Syria which aims to stifle the flow of weapons to Hezbollah.

“The capabilities of the Islamic Resistance, especially missiles, are fully
prepared to defend Lebanon … the secrecy of the site allows Hezbollah’s
missile capabilities to be immune from any preemptive Israeli strikes,” as
well as from Israeli espionage and intelligence warfare, according to *Al
Mayadeen*.

The video is a reminder that “even if the retaliation for the targeting of
the southern suburbs and the assassination of martyr Fuad Shukr, and the
killing of civilians is delayed for several reasons, it will surely come,” *Al
Mayadeen* went on to say.

In the video, excerpts from speeches by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
are heard. “Our next battle with Israel will span across the entirety of
occupied Palestine,” Nasrallah is heard saying in the clip.

Hebrew newspaper *Maariv*
<https://www.maariv.co.il/news/military/Article-1125338> referred to the
video as Hezbollah’s “psychological pressure” on Israel.

Israeli journalist for the *Ynet* news site, Lior Ben Ari, called the video
“disturbing” and said it should be “examined in depth.”

“The video revealed an underground facility called “Emad 4” that launches
missiles underground, but not only. The video reveals huge tunnels, lit,
equipped with computers, which allow motorcycles and trucks to pass easily.
Did someone say Philadelphi [Corridor]?” he added sarcastically, referring
to Hamas’ tunnel network under the Gaza–Egypt border, seemingly indicating
that the Hezbollah facility is much more sophisticated.

Hezbollah is known to have a large and advanced secretive network of
tunnels under south Lebanon.

In February, French newspaper *Liberation*
<https://www.liberation.fr/international/moyen-orient/au-liban-le-reseau-tentaculaire-des-tunnels-secrets-du-hezbollah-20240218_WGML2AM4QFD2XITXSTXPXP2QLY/>
reported that the network is remarkably sophisticated, spanning hundreds of
kilometers and even reaching into Syria.

Dr Andreas Krieg, an assistant professor at King’s College London, told *The
Cradle* <https://thecradle.co/articles-id/25751> last month: “There are
different types of tunnels: surface-level tunnels used for moving
operatives and materials, which can be destroyed from the air; and deeper,
concrete-reinforced tunnels that serve as command centers and armories. The
deeper tunnels, some up to 60 meters underground, are almost impervious to
Israeli airstrikes and were built with support from North Korea and Iran.”

These tunnels constituted a major obstacle for Israel in the 2006 war.

The new video comes as Tel Aviv is in high anticipation over Hezbollah’s
promised retaliation to the killing of top commander Fuad Shukr and several
civilians, including children, in Beirut late last month – which was
followed by the assassination of Hamas chief and lead negotiator Ismail
Haniyeh in Tehran.

The Islamic Republic has also promised to retaliate to Haniyeh’s
assassination.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20240816/1374ea97/attachment.htm>