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.



Biden Says Deal is 'Much, Much' Closer

US President Joe Biden  - AFP
US President Joe Biden - AFP
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Biden Says Deal is 'Much, Much' Closer

US President Joe Biden  - AFP
US President Joe Biden - AFP

US President Joe Biden said on Friday that no party in the Middle East should undermine efforts to reach a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release deal that he claimed was now in sight, stressing that a deal was "much, much closer" than before the talks began.

A senior administration official said the latest negotiations were the most productive in months, and negotiators will reconvene next week in Cairo hoping to conclude it.

"It was consensus of all of the participants over the past 48 hours that there's really a new spirit here to drive it to a conclusion," the official told reporters on the condition of anonymity.

"The Israeli team that was here was empowered...We made a lot of progress in the number of issues that we've been working on," the official said.

Later, Biden said in a statement he had directed his negotiating team to put forward the comprehensive bridging proposal presented on Friday, which he said offers the basis for final agreement on a ceasefire and hostage release deal.

Biden said he spoke with Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who he said expressed strong support for the US proposal.

Teams will remain on the ground to continue technical work and senior officials will convene in Cairo "before the end of the week," he said.

"As of an hour ago, it's still in play. I'm optimistic. It's far from over," Biden affirmed.
"There's a couple more issues. I think we've got a shot," he added, without elaborating.

Asked by a reporter when a ceasefire deal would start if a deal is reached, Biden said: "That remains to be seen."