IDF Dismantles Hezbollah Terror Tunnel Under Majdal Zoun, Finds Drone Cache And Launch Shafts

Israeli forces said they exposed and dismantled a Hezbollah underground terror tunnel under the village of Majdal Zoun in southern Lebanon, describing it as containing “hundreds of weapons and four launch shafts aimed at Israel.”

The IDF said the operation was carried out in the area of Majdal Zoun, “approximately ten kilometers from the border,” and that troops “dismantled more than 50 terrorist infrastructure sites.”

Alma Research and Education Center

In a separate account, The Times of Israel said the Hezbollah drone “airbase” beneath Majdal Zoun was guarded by massive steel blast doors and that the tunnel runs “reaching depths of 29 meters (95 feet) under Majdal Zoun — including beneath a mosque.”

The Times of Israel reported that after capturing the tunnel, soldiers found “around 50 UAVs with warheads of around 30 kilograms (66 pounds) of explosives apiece,” and that the IDF said it had uncovered similar tunnels in southern Lebanon in the past but that this one was built to a “much higher standard.”

The Times of Israel said the subterranean facility was built in the past decade with “direct Iranian assistance, including planning and funding,” and described shafts on the southern side of the mountain from which Hezbollah would launch UAVs at Israel.

In the same reporting, a Yahalom combat engineering officer said, “At the end of the tunnel, there are exits, four exits protected by blast doors on rails,” and the IDF described the site as a UAV “airbase” and factory.

Jarida al-Dustur

The Telegraph, touring the tunnel with IDF troops, said it was “about 170m long, and 20m beneath the shattered Shia village,” and quoted a commander saying “eight tons of explosives were said to have been found.”

The Telegraph also quoted Nicholas Blanford, a non-resident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, saying, “[It’s] definitelyHezbollah,” while describing dozens of drones and blast doors inside the hardened passage.

As Israel and Hezbollah continued to attack each other amid a “porous ceasefire,” The Times of Israel said the tunnel capture marked “the first time that the IDF had access to fully intact Iranian drones of this kind.”

The Jerusalem Post reported that the IDF said it had killed “20 Hezbollah terrorists, including 10 members of the group’s Radwan Force,” while taking control of the tunnel, and added that “about 50 items of terrorist infrastructure and munitions, including drones, anti-tank missiles, and lookout positions, were seized or destroyed.”

In Lebanon, L'Orient-Le Jour reported that an Israeli strike on Majdel Zoun killed five people, including “three Civil Defense members,” and said the Health Ministry announced the toll “according to a still provisional toll.”

Lebanese leaders condemned the strike: L'Orient-Le Jour quoted Prime Minister Nawaf Salam saying the attack “constitutes a new war crime characterized as such by Israel,” while the same report quoted Interior Minister Ahmad Hajjar saying the strike “directly struck three rescuers as they carried out a humanitarian mission.”