Courtesy: IDF Blog

The terrorist organization Hezbollah has one clear goal: to destroy Israel and establish a radical Islamic regime in Lebanon. With over 60,000 rockets and missiles in its arsenal, the terrorist group can strike any part of Israel with continuous, precise attacks. Our central mission is to protect Israeli civilians against this significant threat.

A confrontation with Hezbollah would be highly complex, requiring soldiers to apply unconventional methods of fighting. The terrorist organization has built an extensive network of tunnels and bunkers inside Lebanon. Using Lebanon’s people as human shields, it also places many of its weapons in populated areas, ensuring that counter attacks will strike civilians instead of terrorists. These factors create a complex environment that poses new challenges for IDF soldiers.

Despite these difficulties, the IDF has developed a range of technologies and techniques designed to meet the Hezbollah threat. During a recent exercise, a combat-engineering battalion applied many of these methods, simulating a variety of dangerous scenarios in Lebanon. The battalion’s commander explained that the soldiers must develop expertise in two essential techniques demonstrated during the training.

The first and most dangerous method involves clearing the way for Israeli forces. This task is extremely difficult, since Hezbollah maintains an extensive network of burrows and minefields designed to trap the soldiers in an ambush. To overcome these obstacles, the soldiers use advanced technologies that help them clear the terrain while protecting other troops.

The fighters must also learn to disable explosive devices planted in the battlefield. Many of these devices are located in terrorist strongholds in Lebanese villages. These facilities are full of explosives that endanger the soldiers and Lebanese bystanders, and diffusing these weapons is essential to the IDF’s mission.

The Combat Engineering forces are not the only part of the IDF preparing to confront Hezbollah. In recent months, the IDF Ground Forces ran a joint exercise, combining forces from Artillery,Engineering, the Armored Corps and the IAF. to simulate joint maneuvers in a simulated Hezbollah-controlled village.

Soldiers in the IDF’s Herev Battalion have a unique role to play in the fight against Hezbollah. Many of these Druze soldiers live in villages on the Israel-Lebanon border. The battalion isdeveloping and testing techniques for fighting Hezbollah, based on years of experience operating in Israel’s northern border region.

In light of the imminent threat from Lebanon, the IDF is preparing its forces to encounter a range of challenges. Whether on the ground, in the air, or in the sea, Israel is prepared to confront and neutralize any terrorist threat from the north.