IDF demolition of Hezbollah terror tunnel and weapons depot triggers earthquake warnings across northern Israel

Earthquake alerts were triggered across northern Israel on Saturday morning after IDF combat engineering forces detonated several hundred tons of explosives in the demolition of an extensive Hezbollah tunnel facility. 

The operation to uncover and demolish the tunnel system was conducted by the Paratroopers' Brigade Combat Team along with the Yahalom Combat Engineering unit. The tunnel system was more than one and a half kilometers long (1 mile), and included equipment used by hundreds of terrorists for extended stays: food, beds, cupboards, electricity, as well as a large quantity of weapons - rifles, grenades, anti-tank missiles, rockets, RPGs, mines, and many IEDs. 

The IDF said that during the operation to take control of the tunnel system, which was known to military intelligence beforehand, fighters of the Yahalom Unit engaged in firefights with the terrorists who had barricaded themselves there, and the terrorists were eliminated. 

In a video released by the IDF, Major A., a company commander in Yahalom, says, “We located a very large underground compound about a kilometer and a half [long] that was used by Hezbollah and Radwan for combat and defense.” 

“Here the terrorists barricaded themselves, you can see here the position they built and actually fired at our forces,” A. noted. “Here we waged a battle with the terrorists until they retreated.” 

The extensive complex contained dozens of sleeping rooms, with beds and mattresses, bathrooms with toilets and showers, and kitchens, with refrigerators and stoves, indicating the plan to occupy the area for an extended period of time. The facility was large enough to hold an entire battalion, the IDF said. 

Major A. said the complex was built over 15 years and its purpose was to enable “Hezbollah and Radwan operatives to come from the nearby villages” while dressed as “ordinary civilians.” After entering the tunnel complex, they would change into Hezbollah uniforms, arm themselves, and be ready for the planned invasion of the northern Galilee. 

According to IDF Arabic spokesman Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF troops used 400 tons of explosives to demolish the entire tunnel complex. 

On Saturday morning, Israeli media reported earthquake alerts as far as 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the border with Lebanon. Earthquake sensors registered a 4.5 magnitude earthquake in the area before the IDF announced that its operation had triggered the alarms. 

The alarms were activated automatically by the earthquake sensors, despite the system being designed to distinguish between earthquakes and explosions. The Jerusalem Post reported that the system could have been fooled due to the close proximity of the explosion to one of its sensors. 

The IDF said the demolition was largest such compound destroyed to date by its forces, even larger than the compounds destroyed in the Gaza Strip.