IDF releases footage of tunnel routes it says it dismantled in southern Lebanon

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel's military, has published video from inside what it describes as an underground tunnel network in southern Lebanon. According to a statement from the IDF spokesperson, troops operating in an area the military calls the Security Zone took apart tunnel routes that stretched for hundreds of meters, and found hideouts and weapons inside them.

The weapons listed by the military were Kalashnikov rifles, a machine gun and anti-tank missiles. In a post on its official X account, the IDF added that troops in the same area had located and dismantled dozens of what it called terrorist infrastructure sites, along with weapons. The post named Hezbollah as the source of the threats the army says it is acting against, and stated that the IDF is operating while "remaining committed to the ceasefire agreement."

Who is reporting this

Both accounts come from the same organisation. The first is a statement on the IDF spokesperson's Telegram channel; the second is a shorter version of the same material on the military's X account, published a little later the same day. The two are consistent with each other. No independent body, journalist or Lebanese source is quoted in the material, and the footage itself was released by the military. Every factual claim in this article is therefore the IDF's own account of its operations.

What the Security Zone refers to

The IDF uses the term Security Zone for the area of southern Lebanon where its forces are currently deployed. The spokesperson's statement says troops there are working to remove threats to Israel. The reports do not define the zone's boundaries, its depth inside Lebanon, or how long troops have been present in it, and this article does not attempt to fill in those details.

Hezbollah and the tunnels

Hezbollah is a Lebanese Shiite political and armed movement that has fought Israel repeatedly and maintains a significant military presence in southern Lebanon, close to Israel's northern border. Israeli officials have long accused the group of building underground positions and storing weapons near the frontier. Tunnels and concealed weapons stores have featured regularly in IDF announcements about its activity in the area, and the military frequently releases video to accompany such claims.

In this case the military describes the underground passages as "routes," which suggests a network rather than a single shaft, though the statements do not say how many tunnels were involved, where exactly they were found, or whether any of them crossed into Israeli territory. The phrase "hundreds of meters" is the only measurement given.

The ceasefire

The IDF's post on X places the operation within the framework of a ceasefire agreement, saying the army remains committed to it while continuing to act against Hezbollah. The material does not give the terms of that agreement, who mediated it, or what it says about Israeli troop positions or Hezbollah weapons in southern Lebanon. Readers should be aware that the military's position, that dismantling Hezbollah infrastructure is compatible with the ceasefire, is stated by the IDF and is not addressed by any other party in these reports.

What the reports do not say

• Neither report gives the date the tunnels were found or dismantled, or the specific location beyond southern Lebanon.
• The statements do not say whether any fighters were present, detained or killed, or whether Israeli troops came under fire.
• The number of weapons recovered is not given, only their types.
• The dozens of infrastructure sites are not described, so it is not clear what kind of facilities they were.
• There is no response from Hezbollah, the Lebanese government or any international monitoring body in the material.
• The spokesperson's statement on Telegram appears to be cut off in the version available to us, so there may be further details not reflected here.