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

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

The Paratroopers' Brigade Combat Team, along with the Yahalom Combat Engineering unit, completed an operation to uncover and demolish the tunnel system, which was more than one and a half kilometers long (1 mile). The tunnel was equipped for extended stays by hundreds of terrorists, with food, beds, cupboards, electricity, and a large cache of weapons—including rifles, grenades, anti-tank missiles, rockets, RPGs, mines, and many Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs). 

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

In a video released by the IDF, Major A., a company commander with Yahalom, said: “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. The facility was large enough to hold an entire battalion for a long period, 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 region.

According to IDF Arabic Spokesman Lt.-Col. Avichay Adraee, IDF troops used approximately 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 was the reason the alarms had been triggered.

The sirens 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 may have been fooled due to the explosion’s proximity to one of its sensors.

The IDF stated that this demolition was the largest compound destroyed by its forces to date, even surpassing those previously demolished in the Gaza Strip.