What are Hezbollah's military capabilities? Can it withstand the devastating and unprecedented Israeli strikes?

Since October, when Hezbollah began firing rockets into Israel in support of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in Gaza, it has redeployed its fighters to confrontation areas in the south, including by recalling some from Syria, the three sources said.

The sources added that the group also worked to transfer missiles to Lebanon at a rapid pace, in anticipation of a long-term conflict, while noting at the same time that the group seeks to avoid a comprehensive war.

Iran is Hezbollah’s main backer and arms supplier. The group is the most powerful faction in the Tehran-led “axis of resistance” of allied irregular forces across the Middle East. Many of the group’s weapons are Iranian, Russian or Chinese models.

The sources, all of whom asked not to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, did not provide details about the weapons or who they were being purchased from.

Hezbollah's media office did not respond to requests for comment to add to this coverage.

Andreas Krieg, a senior lecturer at the School of Security Studies at King's College London, said that while Hezbollah's operations have been disrupted by the attacks of the past few days, the group's cohesive organisational structure helps make it extremely resilient.

“This is the most powerful enemy Israel has ever faced on the battlefield, not because of numbers and technology but because of resilience,” he added.

Powerful missiles

The fighting escalated this week as an Israeli strike killed another Hezbollah commander, Ibrahim Qubaisi, on Tuesday, and Hezbollah, seeking to demonstrate its ability to continue operations, fired hundreds of rockets toward Israel in attacks on targets further away than ever before.

Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had targeted an Israeli intelligence base near Tel Aviv, more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) from the border. The Israeli military said sirens sounded in Tel Aviv when air defense systems intercepted one surface-to-surface missile.

The group has not yet said whether it has fired any of its more powerful precision-guided missiles, such as the Iranian-made Fateh-110 ballistic missile with a range of 250 to 300 kilometers.

According to a research paper published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington in 2018, the Fateh-110 missile possessed by Hezbollah is equipped with a warhead weighing 450 to 500 kilograms.

One of the sources, a senior security official, said Hezbollah's rocket attacks were possible because the chain of command continued to function despite some confusion within the group for a brief period after the detonation of the pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members.

The three sources said Hezbollah's ability to communicate is supported by the group's own landline telephone network, which they described as crucial to its communications and said was continuing to operate, as well as other devices.

Many Hezbollah fighters carried older models of pagers, for example, which were not affected by last week's attack.

Reuters could not independently verify the information. Most of the injuries from the pager explosions occurred in Beirut, far from the front lines.

Hezbollah has intensified its use of pagers after its fighters were banned in February from using cellphones on the battlefield following the killing of two leaders.

Hezbollah is believed to have an underground arsenal and last month released photos that appeared to show fighters driving trucks loaded with launchers through tunnels. The sources did not specify whether the rockets fired on Sunday were launched from underground.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Monday's barrage of rockets destroyed tens of thousands of Hezbollah rockets and ammunition.

The Israeli military said what was struck on Monday included long-range cruise missiles, missiles with warheads capable of carrying up to 100 kilograms of explosives, short-range rockets and booby-trapped drones.

Reuters could not independently verify what the Israeli military said.

Boaz Shapira, a researcher at the Alma Center, an Israeli research body specializing in Hezbollah affairs, said that Israel has not yet targeted strategic sites such as long-range missile sites and drones.

"I don't think we're anywhere near the end of that," he continued.

The US congressional report said Hezbollah's arsenal is believed to include about 150,000 rockets. Craig said the most powerful and longest-range ballistic missiles are stored underground.

Hezbollah has spent years digging a network of tunnels that Israel estimates stretch hundreds of kilometers. The Israeli military said Monday's airstrikes targeted rocket launch sites hidden under homes in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah has said it does not place military infrastructure near civilians. The group has not issued a statement on the scope of the impact of the Israeli strikes since Monday.

Tunnels

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said the group’s arsenal of weapons and tunnels had expanded since the 2006 war, particularly precision-guided systems. Hezbollah officials said the group had used only a small portion of the arsenal in fighting over the past year.

Israeli officials say Hezbollah’s military infrastructure is deeply embedded in villages and communities in southern Lebanon, with ammunition and rocket launchers stored in homes across the area. Israel has been bombing some of these villages for months in a bid to degrade Hezbollah’s capabilities.

But confirmed details about the tunnel network remain scarce.

A 2021 report by the Alma Center, an Israeli think tank specializing in Hezbollah, said Iran and North Korea helped build the tunnel network in the wake of the 2006 war.

Israel has already struggled to eliminate Hamas leaders and their self-reliant fighting units in the tunnels running through Gaza.

“This is one of the biggest challenges we face in Gaza, and it is certainly something we could face in Lebanon,” said Carmit Valensi, a senior researcher at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.

Unlike Gaza, where most tunnels are dug by hand in sandy soil, the tunnels in Lebanon are dug deep into mountain rock, Craig said. “They are much harder to reach than in Gaza and even harder to destroy,” he added.

Source: Reuters