Hezbollah Video Appears to Show its Tunnels, Missiles

Hezbollah members carry flags during the funeral of a fellow fighter. (Reuters)
Hezbollah members carry flags during the funeral of a fellow fighter. (Reuters)
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Hezbollah Video Appears to Show its Tunnels, Missiles

Hezbollah members carry flags during the funeral of a fellow fighter. (Reuters)
Hezbollah members carry flags during the funeral of a fellow fighter. (Reuters)

Lebanon's Hezbollah on Friday released a video showing what appeared to be underground tunnels and large missile launchers, amid fears of all-out war between the Iran-backed group and Israel.

The polished, four-and-a-half minute video shows what appear to be Hezbollah operatives moving through wide, illuminated tunnels hewn into rock, with motorbikes and other vehicles, including a convoy of trucks.

Some trucks appear to be transporting missiles through the facility, which bears a sign reading "Imad 4", an apparent reference to top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed in a 2008 Damascus car bombing the group blamed on Israel, AFP reported.

Titled "Our mountains are our storehouses", the video shows a trapdoor opening and a missile launcher directed skyward.

Hezbollah "possesses precision and non-precision missiles along with weapons capabilities so that if Israel imposes a war on Lebanon, Israel will face a destiny and reality it didn't expect any day," its chief Hassan Nasrallah is heard saying -- an excerpt from a 2018 speech.

The group has traded near daily fire with the Israeli army in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on Israel sparked the Gaza war.

But the killing of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran late last month, blamed on Israel, and an Israeli strike that killed a top Hezbollah commander in Lebanon, has sent diplomats scrambling to avert a wider conflict, after Iran and Hezbollah vowed to retaliate.

"Targets are in our possession and the coordinates are in our hands, and these missiles are placed, deployed and focused on targets and in perfect secrecy," Nasrallah says in further audio excerpts subtitled in English and Hebrew.

Hezbollah's weapons, personnel, experience, and determination are "stronger than at any time since its launch in the region", he adds.

Hezbollah has expanded the size and quality of its arsenal since it last fought an all-out war with Israel in 2006.

Experts say the group has a wide range of unguided heavy artillery rockets, ballistic missiles, as well as anti-aircraft, anti-tank and anti-ship missiles.

They have also said Hezbollah likely has an extensive network of underground tunnels in south Lebanon, as well as in the eastern Bekaa valley near the border with Syria.

Mughniyeh is credited with developing Hezbollah's military capabilities, and the group considers him the architect of its "victory" over Israel in 2006.



Sudan Negotiators Working Phones to Engage Both Sides, Says US Envoy 

US envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello speaks during a press briefing ahead of Sudan ceasefire talks, on August 12, 2024 in Geneva. (AFP)
US envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello speaks during a press briefing ahead of Sudan ceasefire talks, on August 12, 2024 in Geneva. (AFP)
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Sudan Negotiators Working Phones to Engage Both Sides, Says US Envoy 

US envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello speaks during a press briefing ahead of Sudan ceasefire talks, on August 12, 2024 in Geneva. (AFP)
US envoy to Sudan Tom Perriello speaks during a press briefing ahead of Sudan ceasefire talks, on August 12, 2024 in Geneva. (AFP)

Though the Sudanese army is still staying away from ceasefire talks in Switzerland, the US envoy convening the negotiations told AFP they were nonetheless in daily contact -- and making progress on humanitarian aid.

War has raged since April 2023 between the Sudanese army under the country's de facto ruler Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) led by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

The brutal conflict has unleashed one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.

Tom Perriello, the US special envoy for Sudan, said the talks' leadership group was speaking to both sides, bashing the phones to reach the Sudanese armed forces (SAF), while the RSF's delegation is on the ground in Switzerland.

The talks are co-hosted by the United States, Saudi Arabia and the Swiss, with the African Union, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations acting as a steering group.

The negotiations, which began on Monday and could last around 10 days, are being held behind closed doors in an undisclosed location.

"We're working the phones. The fact is, in this day and age, everyone in this diplomatic coalition can speak to SAF leadership and RSF leadership," Perriello told AFP.

"We, every day, are in communication with RSF and SAF leadership, the two sides of this war."

The talks, which also involve experts and civil society representatives, are aimed at achieving a cessation of hostilities, ensuring humanitarian access and implementing understandings accepted by both sides.

As for monitoring mechanisms to ensure agreements are implemented, Perriello insisted there were "many proposals".

"We are seeing a tremendous amount of momentum and energy to try to get those mechanisms agreed upon, and in place."

- Proximity format -

Despite the Sudanese army's no-show so far, the special envoy said the talks were having some success, simply by casting international focus on Sudan at a time "when the world was turning its attention away".

The meeting is proceeding using a proximity talks format -- where the brokers speak to each side separately, rather than the two sides talking directly.

"The really exciting thing is that we're having what you call virtual proximity talks, which is that we are already actively engaged every day with both the RSF and SAF," said Perriello.

He said the Egyptians, Saudis, Emiratis, the UN and the AU were "helping out to lead so much on the mediation".

The envoy admitted progress on a ceasefire and humanitarian access would be "easier... in person. But with the magic of telephones and other things, we are not being held back by that refusal to show up."

- Opening the gates -

The fighting has forced one in five people to flee their homes, while tens of thousands have died.

More than 25 million people across the country -- more than half its population -- face acute hunger. Famine has been declared in a Darfur displacement camp.

Burhan's authorities have announced that Sudan's western Adre border crossing with Chad was set to reopen for three months for humanitarian deliveries.

The closure of the crossing has been a longstanding concern for aid groups struggling to get food and supplies into Sudan's Darfur region.

"We are really continuing to see progress on the humanitarian side," said Perriello.

Opening the crossing "has been an essential demand for months now, to move humanitarian aid into some of the parts of Darfur that have had the most acute starvation and hunger.

"We're hoping to get commitments from the RSF to respond accordingly with things like making sure they have unhindered safe access going in.

"We're seeing results each day on progress that's going to mean more food and medicine for more people," the envoy said.

"But we have so much more to do -- and it would be easier if the army showed up."