Key Takeaways:
- Hezbollah has built a tunnel system far more sophisticated than Hamas’s, with tunnels equipped for terrorists to stay inside them for extended periods of time.
- The tunnel system is a result of funding by the Iranian regime, which has provided $1 billion to its proxy, Hezbollah, since 2023. This is in addition to the millions the regime funded each year prior to the war.
- Despite the overwhelming evidence of Hezbollah hijacking civilian areas and building terrorist infrastructure, the media has been quick to reverse the blame onto Israel for demolitions.
Like Hamas, Hezbollah has spent the past several decades building up its terrorist infrastructure. Beneath the villages of southern Lebanon runs a tunnel network designed to inflict terror on Israeli society. As the Iranian regime’s largest proxy, the extent to which Hezbollah can invest in terrorism is far greater than that of the other terrorist organizations in the Levant region.
Since the start of the war in 2023, the Iranian regime has transferred roughly $1 billion to Hezbollah, aiding in the terrorist organization’s reconstruction efforts. This marked a significant increase in funding compared to the $100-200 million per year the regime was funding in the pre-war years.
This funding has directly aided in Hezbollah’s hijacking of southern Lebanon, turning it into a base from which it can carry out mass terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians. The tunnels are the physical proof that Hezbollah’s war on Israel was always a matter of when, not if.
Not only is Hezbollah’s tunnel network larger than Hamas’s, but the infrastructure itself is significantly more sophisticated. With hundreds of tunnels constructed, each costing at least $3 million to construct, the scale reflects the goals and ambition of Hezbollah.
In fact, the structures themselves resemble that of the Iranian missile tunnels. Some are wide enough for vehicles to drive through with ease.
Others are equipped with enough living infrastructure, including bedrooms, bathrooms, and kitchens, for terrorists to stay for extended periods of time underground.
Well before Hamas’s October 7 terrorist attacks, Hezbollah was formulating a plan to carry out a similar style attack in northern Israel. With thousands of highly trained terrorists, Hezbollah planned to “Conquer the Galilee,” infiltrating into Israel and making use of the tunnel system to do so.
Hezbollah’s proximity to northern Israel further amplifies this threat as many of the tunnels constructed lie within meters of the Lebanon-Israel border.
The danger Hezbollah poses, though weakened by the war, remains significant. The IDF’s ground operations in Lebanon are a direct response to this infrastructure. Yet the media has continuously inverted the causality by framing the demolition of terror tunnels as unprovoked attacks on villages, entirely ignoring Hezbollah’s tunnels.
Had Hezbollah not converted Lebanese villages into launching pads for terrorism, these areas would not have become battlegrounds. However, Hezbollah’s core strategy includes embedding terrorists and infrastructure both in and underneath civilian areas.
Hezbollah’s tunnel network is not a defensive measure. It is an invasion plan carved into southern Lebanon. The scale of the infrastructure, the Iranian regime’s financing of the project, and the proximity of these tunnels to the Israeli border tell a story the organization itself has never tried to hide: Hezbollah intended to bring October 7 to the north.
And if it weren’t for the IDF’s defensive operations, Hezbollah would have used every tunnel for exactly that purpose.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
