‘Most Dahiyeh Arms Sites Dismantled’: Israel Guts Hezbollah’s Bastion

Latest Developments

• Israel Destroys Underground Terrorist Infrastructure: The IDF revealed on November 12 that it had undertaken an extensive effort to destroy Hezbollah’s terrorist stronghold in Beirut’s Dahiyeh district and surrounding areas. Among the sites attacked by the IDF was a weapons manufacturing facility hidden below five residential buildings in Choueifat, a city located southeast of Beirut, which housed 50 families and was 85 yards from a mosque, the IDF said. Hezbollah used the facilities to produce long-range precision missiles and other weapons components.

• IDF Warns Lebanese to Evacuate: Before the attack, the IDF’s Arabic spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, warned residents of some Dahiyeh neighborhoods to evacuate due to impending strikes in the area. In late 2020, the IDF exposed the existence of the facility in Choueifat and two other Hezbollah weapons sites.

• Rocket Strike Kills Two People in Northern Israel: A rocket fired by Hezbollah on November 12 struck a warehouse and killed two people in Nahariya, said Israel’s National Medical Emergency Service (Magen David Adom). “We conducted medical assessments on two men who were lying unconscious …. Unfortunately, their injuries were too severe, and after our assessments, we had to pronounce both of them deceased,” said Magen David Adom. Earlier the same day, several children narrowly escaped injury from a drone that exploded in their kindergarten in Nesher as they had taken shelter moments earlier.

FDD Expert Response

“It’s a safe assumption that the Israelis gave the civilians above Hezbollah’s missile factory plenty of time to evacuate. But what’s astonishing is that Hezbollah was given far more time — years more — to relocate what must have been a major strategic asset underground. Perhaps it was too big, or too likely to have been exposed to Lebanese civilians? Perhaps Hezbollah believed the Israelis would never dare to strike it? Either way, this is yet more evidence of the devastating miscalculations of Iran’s once most dangerous terror army.” — Mark Dubowitz, CEO

“Israeli strikes in Hezbollah’s stronghold of Dahiyeh reveal the deep entrenchment of its military infrastructure within civilian areas. Israeli intelligence has demonstrated exceptional skill in pinpointing these sites and in providing advance warnings to the local population before striking. Over the past month, the IDF has identified hundreds of such buildings in Hezbollah’s heartland and remains committed to targeting these facilities until the Iran-backed organization’s capabilities are degraded.” — Ahmad Sharawi, Research Analyst

“The tragic murder of two individuals in Nahariya due to Hezbollah rocket fire serves as stark evidence that the Lebanon-based group remains a significant threat to Israeli civilians. Even as it loses its long-range capabilities, Hezbollah is keeping up short-range attacks with occasionally deadly effect. However, it is noteworthy that Hezbollah attacks in northern Israel over the past year have been markedly lower than the worst-case scenario of thousands of rockets raining down daily on Israeli cities. Even if a U.S.-brokered truce is looming, Israel must keep hitting everything and anything in its site up to the last moment.” — Joe Truzman, Senior Research Analyst and Editor at FDD’s Long War Journal

FDD Background and Analysis

“Israel Demolishes Massive Hezbollah Underground Bunker in Southern Lebanon,” FDD Flash Brief

“Israel Targets Hezbollah Intelligence Branch and Ammunition Sites in Syria,” FDD Flash Brief

“Analysis: Naim Qassem commemorates 40 days since Hassan Nasrallah’s death,” by David Daoud

“The Road to the Third Lebanon War,” by David Daoud and Ahmad Sharawi