A network of tunnels and a large arsenal, discovered on Aug. 7, 2025, by French soldiers of UNIFIL. Photo taken from the official X account of the French Army General Staff.
The French army and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Thursday that peacekeepers and the Lebanese Army uncovered a network of Hezbollah tunnels and weapons in the South.
UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said the discovery was made during routine operations under U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701, in coordination with the Lebanese Army. He described it as “a vast network of fortified tunnels” near the villages of Tayr Harfa, Zibqine and Naqoura, containing shelters, artillery pieces, rocket launchers, hundreds of missiles and rockets, anti-tank mines and other explosives.
The French army shared images from the operation, including a soldier in a trench with a loaded rocket launcher and another in a tunnel in front of ammunition crates. “More than 200 French UNIFIL troops were deployed during Operation Kemmel 2, in cooperation with the Lebanese Army, near the Blue Line,” the French general staff posted on X, adding that the effort aimed to de-escalate tensions and protect civilians under Resolution 1701.
The resolution, which followed the 2006 war, calls for Israel’s full withdrawal from Lebanon and for Hezbollah to disarm. It is the legal framework for the cease-fire reached on Nov. 27, 2024, after 13 months of war. But the agreement is violated nearly daily by Israeli strikes. Hezbollah, which has refused to disarm, called the Cabinet’s latest decision to set a deadline for disarmament a “grave sin.”
UNIFIL said that as of Aug. 4, 2025, it had identified 302 arms caches in southern Lebanon.
Speaking to Lebanese TV channel LBCI, Tenenti said peacekeepers recently conducted a series of field activities in coordination — and in some cases, cooperation — with the Lebanese Army. “We discovered a vast network of tunnels and hideouts near Tayr Harfa, Zibqine and Naqoura, along with rocket launchers, rockets, explosives placed beneath projectiles, anti-tank mines and other military equipment,” he said.
UNIFIL, with some 10,000 troops, has operated in southern Lebanon since 1978. Under Resolution 1701, only the Lebanese Army is authorized to remove Hezbollah’s weapons, while UNIFIL monitors and reports. In June, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam said the army had dismantled more than 500 military positions and arms depots in the South.
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