Beneath Beaufort's Strategic Bulwark, a Hezbollah Lair Built to Attack Israel is Unearthed

Atop Beaufort Castle in southern Lebanon, where Hezbollah operatives once launched hundreds of attacks on Israeli troops and northern Israel, the IDF has uncovered a fortified tunnel network built into the ridge below the medieval fortress. Israel recaptured the historic Beaufort Castle and the surrounding ridge in late May 2026, 26 years after withdrawing from the site, as its forces pushed deeper into Lebanon against Hezbollah. Speaking during a media tour on Tuesday, July 7, the commander of the 36th Division, Brig. Gen. Yiftah Norkin, called the capture of the ridge “critical to the defense of the Galilee Panhandle, Metula, and the surrounding communities.”

Hezbollah fired more than 400 rockets from the Beaufort Ridge toward northern Israel during the current round of fighting, mostly at the border town of Metula, and also launched drones and anti-tank missiles at troops from the area. About a kilometer south of the fortress, beneath the ridge, soldiers found several major tunnels constructed with direct Iranian assistance. One passage stretches 1.3 kilometers from the cliff face into the mountain and opens with a clear line of sight to Metula. Troops recovered “an exceptional quantity” of arms inside, including anti-aircraft systems and Iranian-made anti-helicopter mines, some of which had never before been captured.

An officer from the elite Yahalom combat engineering unit said the tunnel featured water and electricity infrastructure, living quarters with showers and kitchenettes, and a fully equipped, sterile operating room where fighters could remain for months at a time. He estimated the complex took 10 to 15 years to drill, blast, and excavate without detection. The army said it plans to demolish the facility, and explosives were already laid throughout its rooms and passages. Norkin said his forces remain in a defensive phase under the fragile ceasefire but are prepared to return to offensive operations if required.

(TOI/VFI News)

Dear Lord, we thank You for protecting the soldiers who uncovered this network of terror before it could be used against Your people. We pray in Yeshua's Name that You continue to shield the men and women defending Israel's northern communities and grant them wisdom and strength for every mission. We ask that You guard the residents of Metula and the Galilee, and give them lasting peace and security in their homes. We pray that every plot devised in darkness against Israel would come to nothing, and that Your hand of protection would rest upon the land.