The Escalating Conflict: Hezbollah and Hamas Tunnel Networks and the Wider War Against Israel

South Lebanon, bordering Israel, has been excavated, revealing kilometers of tunnels used by Hezbollah militants, just as in the Gaza Strip where Hamas has built a monumental underground network over 700 kilometers long with elevators and bunkers as deep as 80 meters. Israelis living in the northern towns of Israel, close to the border, have been evacuated to the south due to the looming danger of something similar happening as on October 7, another anti-Semitic pogrom. Meanwhile, Hezbollah's attacks, carried out with anti-tank guided missiles, suicide drones, mortars, and rockets, have never ceased. This is the worst nightmare that has prompted 70,000 Israelis to leave everything. "Please don't call it the war between Palestinians and Israelis anymore, because it's not. It's now a broader and more terrible conflict," explains Colonel Sarit Zehavi, an analyst heading the Alma Research and Education Center, summarizing via zoom from the border how Hamas and Hezbollah, supported by Iran, have one declared goal: to wipe Israel and everything it represents with its democratic values off the map. The 'little Satan' as it is called, in an equation that has effectively turned Jews into people to be eliminated. "Because Hezbollah does not recognize the existence of Israel. It's a very extreme ideology that finds its roots in Iran." Zehavi in his highly detailed report that spares no one also spoke of the presence of 10,000 UN soldiers in South Lebanon, up to the Litani River. "But this meant nothing, in the sense that it was ineffective. The same UN soldiers were attacked, their vehicles were burned, and in fact, they could not complete their mission of interposition and protection. Now the central issue is how to disarm Hezbollah on the northern border." All this while "even the Lebanese army did not move." "Israelis living here in the North feel they have no prospects, Rockets, even now as we speak, are being launched. And the threat is the invasion of terrorists into our homes as happened in the kibbutz near Gaza, on October 7." The analyst, who has published several works, highlights the cultural divide. Hezbollah and Hamas carry an ideology of death, they have no intention of having an Israeli state, they want to erase Jews and Western values. "The issues are connected." In his opinion, "Hezbollah is not interested in total war at least for now, and on behalf of the Palestinian cause, however, it is willing to take the risk." Is there a concrete risk of a pogrom in the North of Israel like that of October 7? "I would say yes. These are trained and experienced soldiers, there are thousands. We do not know the exact number, certainly thousands. Yes, they can very well enter Israel, they can invade and they can disguise themselves. And we are very concerned about this scenario. But something like that of October 7 cannot be repeated. It will not happen. We will not allow it. Otherwise, our people will not return to their homes under this kind of threat." What affinities are there between Hezbollah and Hamas? "They have not changed at all, they believe in the same things and are very clear. They believe in the culture of hate and death. They are loyal to Iran. They openly shout death to Israel, just as they shout death to America. They are educating their children to hate. They fear the presence and values of the West in the Middle East. They fear the normalization process that was starting between Israel and Saudi Arabia, they needed to stop it and quickly. That it is something extended does not take a genius to understand, just observe that Lebanon and Gaza are only examples, then there is also the West Bank infected and also Syria and Iraq where there are militants who receive training, ideology, and ammunition from Iran. This is not a war between Israel and Hamas. It has never been, it's a different kind of war. Putting it in the Palestinian context is just a misunderstanding of reality. What we are facing now is not a national conflict. It is a religious conflict. It is about Iran's involvement in the Middle East." Can you tell us about the tunnels in southern Lebanon, do they really exist? "There are five types of tunnels. The terrain is very different from Gaza, there is no sand there. The tunnel for crossing the border has already been found."