By Nohad Topalian | 2024-09-10

BEIRUT -- A vast network of tunnels in southern Beirut, south Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley enables Hizbullah to move around below ground, transporting missiles, fighters and even vehicles, sources said.

The subterranean network is not a secret, with Hizbullah showcasing its fortified underground missile storage facility, "Imad 4," in a carefully produced video posted online August 16.

In the video, the party's fighters and vehicles loaded with missiles move through wide and illuminated tunnels.

Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah's speeches provide the soundtrack.

"The resistance now possesses precision and non-precision missiles along with weapon capabilities, so that if Israel imposes a war on Lebanon, it will face a fate and reality that it never expected," Nasrallah's voice booms.

Hizbullah's network of tunnels stretches for hundreds of kilometers, an anonymous source close to the party told Al-Fassel.

Some of the tunnels are interconnected, with some reaching across the Syrian frontier and others on the border with Israel, he said.

Hizbullah has a warren of tunnels in Beirut's southern suburb, including one that leads to one of the Beirut airport runways, the source said.

Some in the Bekaa Valley "reach the Syrian interior," he said.

The underground network provides Hizbullah "with freedom and safety of movement," he said, and enables it to transport weapons, missiles and military vehicles, as it has done throughout the Syrian conflict.

The network was built "with the help of Iranian and North Korean engineers," he said, adding that Hizbullah uses North Korean equipment in these tunnels, some of which reportedly have electricity and railway tracks.

Endangering civilians

Hizbullah "lives underground in Beirut's southern suburb and parts of the south," exposing civilians who live above ground "to certain danger," Hizbullah opponent Ahmed Yassin told Al-Fassel.

"Hizbullah has an octopus-like network of tunnels, most of which are connected to each other, especially those that connect the southern suburb to the south, and others in the western Bekaa Valley to the south," he explained.

"It also has a network of tunnels on the Lebanese-Syrian border, which are located in its areas of influence, notably Maaraboun, southeast of Baalbek, because of its proximity to the Syrian towns of Serghaya and Rankous, and in Hermel."

A tunnel in the Ouzai area of Beirut's southern suburb "reaches the airport," he said.

In the south, some tunnels extend into border villages in areas beyond Hizbullah's strongholds, as some local residents have discovered to their chagrin.

"Residents reject Hizbullah's use of their lands as a platform to launch missiles towards Israel," Yassin said.