BICOM

The Israeli military published a map of southern Lebanon via social media yesterday, demarking thousands of Hezbollah positions, infrastructure and armaments placed within 200 villages and towns along the Israeli border.

The map, which was previously classified, was published on the IDF’s Twitter account and subsequently reported by Channel Two.

It reveals that Hezbollah has embedded weapon warehouses, rocket launchers, infantry, underground tunnels and infrastructure, anti-tank positions and command posts within 200 civilian population areas in southern Lebanon. The map highlights around 10,000 potential targets for Israeli strikes in these areas, in the event of a new conflict with Hezbollah.

Channel Two reported that the map had been shown to almost every foreign diplomat visiting Israel to demonstrate that although Hezbollah is currently deeply engaged in the Syrian civil war, it continues to prepare and arm itself for conflict with Israel. Israel admitted on several recent occasions that it had launched air strikes in Syria, in order to prevent Hezbollah from transferring advanced weaponry to Lebanon, where it could be used as a direct threat to Israel.

During the month-long Second Lebanon War in 2006, Hezbollah fired approximately 4,000 rockets at northern Israel, killing 43 Israeli civilians. It is estimated that Hezbollah now has an arsenal of around 100,000 rockets at its disposal, ten times the number of rockets Hamas possessed before Operation Protective Edge. Their range is thought to cover all of Israel.

In March, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that the group is ready to strike anywhere in Israel and that “if Lebanon is attacked we would respond without setting any limits or red lines”.

Also earlier this year, the IDF’s Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Yair Golan said that Hezbollah’s improving war capabilities means that in a future conflict “we’re not going to see small war in Lebanon. It’s going to be decisive. It’s going to be full-scale war”.