- The border here betweenIsrael and Lebanon
is deceptively quiet.
But on the other side ofthis fence lies Hezbollah
with more than 100,000 rockets
that can hit almostanywhere inside Israel.
- All of them were brought to Lebanon
in order to be launchedagainst Israel one day.
- Retired Lieutenant Colonel Sarit Zehavi
studies the danger of Hezbollah
through her research organization, Alma.
- Hezbollah is the proxyof Iran in the region.
It's the most professionalproxy of Iran in the region.
It's the most equipped,dangerous proxy of Iran
in the region.
And we are here standing,looking in the eyes of Hezbollah
and the people that are raising their kids
just a few feet from us every morning,
looking in the eyes of Hezbollah.
- I'm standing in the village
of Hanita here on theIsraeli Lebanese border.
Behind me, you can see children playing
in this kindergarten.
And over here, you can see howclose the Lebanese border is.
The sense of danger is real
and ever present for those living here.
In 2006, they lived through a 34 day war
which saw Hezbollah fired nearly4,000 rockets into Israel.
That barrage paralyzed Northern Israel,
chasing a million Israelis to the South,
while the rest spent most ofthat month in bomb shelters.
In 2021, the IDF believesHezbollah is once again
considering attacking Israelin what Zehavi describes
as days of battle.
- Days of battle would mean
that the people that are livingjust here a few feet for us
would not be able to get out of their home
because it will be too dangerous,
meaning that their childrenwill hear the sirens
every two weeks and willhave to run for shelter.
This is the reality that is unbearable
for the people of the North.
- This is the only active border crossing
between Israel and Lebanon.
The UN base is just down theroad within a no man's land.
And I'm standing in an IDF base
that keeps constant watch over Hezbollah.
- Their threat is no joke
and we never underestimate ourenemy, but we keep training,
we keep practicing, we keepon gathering intelligence
and always getting preparedand keeping readiness
for the next conflict, for the next fight,
making sure we have the upper hand.
- [Chris] Lieutenant Dalton describes
Hezbollah's military strategyas one of blending in
by creating a virtual civilian camouflage.
- Hezbollah decided to take the step
and make all of itsestablishment in Southern Lebanon
based on civilian clothing,civilian territory,
civilian houses or really blend itself,
camouflage itself into thepopulation and keep operating in.
So they know how to hide,
whether it's taking overcivilian villages or households
and really setting base up over there.
But our intelligence is strong enough
to understand their workand how they operate
and to really pinpoint thelocation of their bases
inside civilian territory.
- [Chris] Another hiddenweapon in Hezbollah's arsenal
is these undergroundtunnels along the border.
CBN News got a rare look into this one
that took years to build,
measuring at least 25 stories deep.
It had already crossedinto Israeli territory
before the IDF uncovered and sealed it.
Zehavi's organizationidentified another weapon
by exposing Hezbollah
assembling precision-guidedmissiles inside Beirut.
- What most Americans, mostChristians in the United States,
North America aroundthe world don't realize
is that Lebanon is important to Iran
because it is the forward operating base
of their most aggressive offensive attack
whenever they decide to attack Israel
- Middle East expert and authorof "The Beirut Protocol",
Joel Rosenberg warns what might happen
as the Biden administrationconsiders reentering
the Iranian nuclear deal.
- If Israel feared that theBiden administration was gonna
go down some road of negotiationsthat was shortsighted,
ill-conceived and dangerous,Israel might have to attack
to neutralize those sites
- [Chris] That could trigger Hezbollah.
- Iran would unleash a barrage,
the most devastating missile attack,
maybe in the history of mankind.
They have upwards of, I hear,150,000 missiles positioned
right across their border,all through Southern Lebanon.
And they would light up the skies
and all the Israel defenses,
all the missile defenseswe have would do some good,
but it couldn't possiblystop a barrage of thousands
and thousands and thousands ofmissiles coming in every day.
- [Chris] Israel's leadersrealize those dangers.
Some believe the IDF's goal would be
to make its next responseso massive that the next war
with Hezbollah would be known as the last.
Chris Mitchell, CBS News onthe Israeli Lebanese border.
