As the air and missile war between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies, the terrorist group’s weapons stored in civilians’ homes have become a key Israeli target.
Israel’s intensified strikes over the past few days have taken hundreds of lives.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said many of those were Hezbollah fighters, and more were killed when the targeted Hezbollah munitions overheated and exploded.
Hagari, speaking on video on Sept. 23, used diagrams to show how Hezbollah stores large cruise missiles inside civilian homes and how walls are designed to open to allow the rockets to fire.
IDF aerial photography even captured what appeared to be the wall of a multi-story house dropping away in such a manner.
The video shows the house being destroyed “in a precise strike,” before the missile within could be launched, Hagari said.
“We ask residents of Lebanese villages to pay attention to the message and warnings published by the IDF, and heed them,” Hagari said.
“This is an advance warning for your own safety and the safety of your family.
“We advise civilians from Lebanese villages located in and next to buildings and areas used by Hezbollah for military purposes, such as those used to store weapons, to immediately move out of harm’s way. Immediately.
“Hezbollah is endangering you and your families.”
On Sept. 23, the IDF struck about 1,600 Hezbollah terrorist targets in Lebanon, Hagari said.
The strikes destroyed long-range cruise missiles, heavyweight rockets, rockets with warheads capable of carrying 100 kilograms of explosives, short-range missiles, and explosive unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), Hagari said.
Hezbollah has long registered as a serious threat on Israel’s northern border—partly because it has stockpiled more than 100,000 Iran-supplied rockets and missiles, which are now being targeted by the IDF.
“We are taking [away] military infrastructure that Hezbollah built for 20 years,” said IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi. “This is very significant.”
Hagari said Israel must take Hezbollah’s arms seriously.
The vice admiral said Hezbollah has fired more than 9,000 rockets at Israel in the past year since entering the war in support of Hamas on Oct. 8, 2023.
That has emptied Israel’s north, with more than 60,000 people forced to evacuate from villages close to the border and more leaving from just outside that zone.
Making the nation’s north habitable again recently became a formal war goal for the IDF.
With the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 massacre looming, Israel’s leaders are under pressure to deliver that. The fall school term began with many schools in the north still unable to open.
Israel’s leaders have said for years, and daily for the past year, that the terrorist groups it confronts use “human shields” and base fighters, headquarters, weapons, and arms stockpiles in or under homes, mosques, schools, and hospitals—moves regarded as war crimes.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in remarks made on Sept. 23, reiterated Hagari’s warning.
“I have a message for the people of Lebanon. Israel’s war is not with you. It’s with Hezbollah,” Netanyahu said.
“For too long, Hezbollah has been using you as human shields. It placed rockets in your living rooms and missiles in your garage. Those rockets and missiles are aimed directly at our cities, directly at our citizens.
“To defend our people against Hezbollah strikes, we must take out those weapons.
“Starting this morning, the IDF has warned you to get out of harm’s way. I urge you to take this warning seriously. Please get out of harm’s way now.”
Israel’s northernmost town, Metula, which has sustained extensive damage during the war, is 250 meters from one Lebanese village and 350 meters from another.
The world media extensively publish images of damage in Gaza or Lebanon but rarely show the damage done to Israel.
The video documents buildings destroyed or heavily damaged, the burned shells of vehicles, and fires raging in buildings or fields.
