A kitchen with advanced Kornet anti-tank missiles, a side room with an anti-aircraft gun, and a storage room with mortars.
These were the sights that the Jerusalem Post saw up close during a trip on Thursday embedding with IDF Division 91 in a village in the eastern part of southern Lebanon, the first such trip for Israeli journalists since the 2006 Second Lebanon War.
The Post is prevented from revealing the name of the specific village in order to protect the ongoing maneuvering IDF forces from Hezbollah ambushes.
But over the course of the full year of the war, IDF statements have noted air and artillery strikes on Hezbollah positions in a large number of villages, with a partial list being: 1) Levona, Yarine, Majdal Zoun, Marwachin, and Ramia in the western part of southern Lebanon, matching up to Rosh Hanikra, Shlomi, Hanita, and Shtula; 2) Ayta Ashab, Bint Jbeil, Maroun el-Ras, and Blida in a more central-east part of southern Lebanon matching up to Dovev, Avivim, Malchia, Yiftach, and Ramot Naftali; 3) Rab El Thalathine, Wadi Saluki, and Kfar Kila in the northeastern-most part of southern Lebanon, matching up to Kiryat Shmona, Manara, Misgav Am, and Metulla.
Recent IDF press releases have noted IDF ground units working with the air force against Hezbollah assets in Bint Jbeil, Marwachin, and other places, though that is only a very partial list.
Since the invasion started on September 30, the IDF has been blasting pictures and videos of the thousands upon thousands of weapons, many high-end, it has been found in village after village, house after house in southern Lebanon.
The Post first had the opportunity to see many of the weapons up close in the north on the Israeli side of the border on October 1.
But there is something even more powerful about seeing these weapons in their “natural environment” where they have been newly found in Lebanese villages.
Hezbollah's arsenal
When the IDF announced on Thursday that Alexandroni Brigade 3 of Division 91 had found around 800 military vests, along with numerous grenades, mines, guns, and other weapons in villages in southern Lebanon – the Post no longer needs to take its word for it.
In one house alone, the Post saw dozens of vests, dozens of grenades, special high-caliber guns, and a variety of other weapons.
Further, when the IDF announced on Thursday that Zaken Brigade 8 had found large volumes of long range Kornet anti-tank missiles in civilian houses, the Post can now testify to having seen boxes full of such missiles in southern Lebanon village houses.
IDF sources also revealed how Brigades 3, 769, and Nahal Brigade 228 were all used to hit certain Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon from different directions, though the Post is prevented from sharing the exact details due to ongoing information security concerns.
IDF sources involved in the Post’s visit to southern Lebanon said that Division 91 has already fought 10 battles, though most of these have not been reported.
In those battles, the sources said that dozens of Hezbollah fighters had been killed, while Division 91 had lost five soldiers. A number of Hezbollah and IDF fighters have also been wounded.
The visit included driving through abandoned and battered Kiryat Shmona and visiting and approaching various other close-to-the-border IDF points which remain classified.
The Post witnessed a large number of recently created holes in the border fence all along the border to enable IDF troops to invade in a number of areas.
Unlike the sandy desert topography the Post has witnessed in a number of visits to Gaza, the Lebanese topography varied from hilly, to larger mountains, with significant and steep rock formations to navigate.
This made the ride in an IDF hummer far more bumpy than any of the visits to Gaza, and the sometimes lightly recommended seat belt, a must to avoid being thrown out of the vehicle.
The Posts did not see any Hezbollah fighters or Lebanese people of any kind during the trip.
But several times during the trip, the Post heard gunfire from ongoing battles between the sides.
In addition, just as the Post was crossing into southern Lebanon, Hezbollah fired a series of rockets toward Israel, all of which appeared to be shot down a few hundred meters away near the border fence.
Only hours before the Post entered, around 40 rockets were fired by Hezbollah at Israel, and only a few hours after the visit, another 50 rockets were fired at Nahariya, Acre, and the Upper Galilee, with the rockets striking some sites in Israel in both rounds.
Moreover, the Post heard explosions which were likely a mix of blowing up Hezbollah structures and air strikes.
Another sight witnessed by the Post, included large scale construction and D-9 equipment, tearing down Hezbollah structures.
IDF sources said that despite pre-war intelligence that every fifth or third house had weapons, essentially, they found during the invasion that every single house did in certain villages.
Division 91 Commander IDF Brig. Gen. Shai Kleper said, “We are standing in one of the battle areas on the Lebanese front. We are acting to harm, neutralize, and destroy Radwan operatives and their attack plan in terms of their capabilities and infrastructure.”
"We are in a weapons storage area for Radwan [inside a village civilian house]. You can see hundreds of vests, mortars, mines…all the weapons they need. An operative could show up here in jeans and sandals, receive all of his war supplies, a map, and a plan of attack for which he was pre-trained,” for invading Israeli towns.