One of the main lessons Hezbollah learned from the 2006 Second Lebanon War was the need to revise its objectives in the next war with Israel, alongside the need to devise advanced defensive and offensive capabilities that would allow it to wage war on Israeli soil.
This process was led by Imad Mughniyeh, Hezbollah's infamous military chief whose 2008 assassination is attributed to Israel. At the time, Mughniyeh determined that the next war would see Hezbollah operatives rush the Galilee area, and to do so, the Shiite terrorist group earmarked areas near the border where it has the topographical advantage over Israel.
To achieve these objectives, Mughniyeh outlined an operational plan he personally supervised until his death, and afterward, Hezbollah special forces continued developing this plan. It was delayed perhaps only because of the Syrian civil war, which erupted in 2011 and in which Hezbollah fought alongside Syrian President Bashar Assad's forces.
This plan included training Hezbollah special forces to take control of isolated Israeli communities along the Israel-Lebanon border, something referred to in Hezbollah circles as "conquering the Galilee."
The plan also included digging cross-border tunnels under the security fence that would snake under Israeli border-adjacent communities. These tunnels were intended to accommodate several hundred Hezbollah fighters, as Mughniyeh's outline followed the North Korean model, designed to facilitate a full-scale flash attack on South Korea – a model Hezbollah's Iranian patrons have studied diligently.
In addition, Hezbollah's operational plan included developing its missile arsenal, which Israeli intelligence believes currently comprises 150,000 projectiles, to target Israeli population centers and strategic assets nationwide.
Hezbollah's grand plan was to use its tunnels and missile firing capabilities to demand the IDF's full attention, distracting Israeli forces long enough to allow Hezbollah operatives to execute their plot to "conquer the Galilee." Operation Northern Shield, however, has put a serious dent in this scheme.
Brig. Gen. (ret.) Dr. Shimon Shapira is a former military secretary to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.
