Hezbollah embedded military infrastructure in densely populated neighborhoods of Beirut’s southern suburbs, placing alleged weapons facilities, command sites and other military assets next to schools, hospitals, religious institutions and government buildings, according to a geospatial analysis by Israel’s Alma Research and Education Center.

The report argues that the Iran-backed group used civilian areas as cover for its military operations, putting residents at risk and complicating Israel’s efforts to strike Hezbollah targets without causing civilian casualties.

The study, published on October 21, identified at least 304 buildings destroyed in a 25-square-kilometer area of Dahiyeh during Israel’s Operation Northern Arrows, which ran from September 27 to November 27, 2024.

Drawing on satellite imagery, geolocated social media posts, media reports and mapping services, the report documented alleged Hezbollah military infrastructure in close proximity to civilian facilities across the southern suburbs. The researchers argue that the placement of military assets in residential neighborhoods created a protective environment for the group while exposing civilians to the consequences of Israeli strikes.

The report also alleges that Hezbollah could exploit the resulting destruction and civilian casualties to generate international pressure against Israel and reinforce its claim to represent a resistance movement.

Military infrastructure beside schools

The analysis identified several locations where the researchers said Hezbollah maintained military infrastructure just meters from schools and other civilian institutions.

An alleged Hezbollah site was located 20 meters from Hussein Maktabi High School, while another was just eight meters from Hikmeh School. A third was 12 meters from St. George’s School.

The report also identified alleged Hezbollah infrastructure attributed to Unit 4400 in a building housing the headquarters of Mahan Airlines, just 14 meters from Lycée De La Finesse.

Another suspected site was less than a meter from Al-Sanabel School, inside a densely built complex surrounded by residential buildings and shops. The report also identified alleged military infrastructure 20 meters from Al-Mahdi School and just three meters from Al-Bayan High School.

The report argues that such proximity illustrates how Hezbollah’s military infrastructure was embedded in areas where civilians live, work and attend school, increasing the risks to residents during military operations.

The presence of military assets near schools does not, by itself, establish that civilians were deliberately used as human shields in every instance. However, Alma presents the locations as evidence of a broader pattern in which Hezbollah allegedly positioned military infrastructure within densely populated civilian surroundings.

Sites near hospitals and public institutions

The report also identified alleged Hezbollah infrastructure close to medical facilities and government buildings.

One suspected site was less than a meter from a Ministry of Telecommunications building. Another was approximately 90 meters from Rafik Hariri University Hospital, while infrastructure attributed to Hezbollah’s Unit 4400 was reported adjacent to Zaraa Hospital.

The report also identified alleged Hezbollah infrastructure inside the Haret Hreik municipal building and on the top floor of a building adjacent to the Burj el-Brajneh municipal building.

According to the report, these findings illustrate the extent to which alleged Hezbollah military infrastructure was situated within civilian environments, including near institutions that serve essential public functions.

Such arrangements can make military operations particularly dangerous for civilians. When military assets are located inside residential buildings or near hospitals and public facilities, attacks intended to destroy those assets can also threaten nearby people and property.

The report argues that Hezbollah’s alleged positioning of military infrastructure in these surroundings placed Israel in a difficult position: strike the targets and risk civilian harm, or refrain from attacking them and allow the group’s military capabilities to remain in place.

Religious sites also located near alleged Hezbollah facilities

The Alma report identified alleged Hezbollah infrastructure less than a meter from a Catholic monastery, the Amir al-Mu’minin Mosque and the Imam al-Rida Mosque.

Another suspected site was less than 10 meters from the Al- Dahiyeh Islamic Shia Waqf Committee Center.

The findings add religious institutions to the list of civilian facilities that the report says were located immediately beside Hezbollah-linked infrastructure.

Taken together, the sites identified near schools, hospitals, government buildings and religious institutions underpin Alma’s central argument: Hezbollah placed military assets within densely populated civilian neighborhoods, making it more difficult to separate military operations from civilian life.

The report contends that the group’s presence in these areas increased the danger facing residents and created conditions in which civilian casualties and damage to civilian property could occur during attacks on military targets.

The precise military function of every identified building and the circumstances surrounding individual strikes have not all been independently verified.

Earlier findings pointed to suspected missile sites near schools

The report builds on research published by Alma in July 2020, which identified dozens of locations in Beirut allegedly associated with Hezbollah’s short- and medium-range ballistic missile systems, including Iranian-supplied Fateh-110 missiles.

That earlier analysis identified suspected weapons storage facilities and launch sites in and around Hussein Maktabi High School, Al-Laylaki Official Co-educational School and Al-Burj football stadium, where the Shiite Waqf Committee holds land.

The committee, known as the Islamic Shia Waqf Committee in Burj el-Brajneh, is a longstanding charitable and social organization.

According to the latest report, satellite imagery taken after Operation Northern Arrows showed several destroyed buildings near Hussein Maktabi High School, Al-Laylaki School, the Catholic monastery, Al-Burj stadium and the Ministry of Telecommunications building.

The report said the destruction was consistent with its earlier findings concerning alleged weapons storage in and around the Waqf Committee complex. The researchers added that Israeli strikes destroyed the suspected facilities without damaging the nearby sensitive civilian institutions themselves.

The report uses these findings to argue that Hezbollah’s alleged military presence in civilian areas predated the 2024 campaign and was part of a longer-standing pattern of locating military infrastructure within densely populated parts of Beirut.

At least 304 buildings destroyed during the 2024 campaign

To assess the impact of Israel’s campaign, the report compared satellite imagery collected in May 2024 with images taken in January 2025, after the November ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah had taken effect.

Within the study area, the researchers identified 292 medium- and high-rise buildings and 12 low-rise buildings that were struck and destroyed during the two-month operation.

The total included buildings whose upper floors were destroyed while their lower floors remained standing, as well as structures so severely damaged that Lebanese authorities demolished them before the later satellite imagery was captured.

Buildings that sustained precision strikes but remained structurally intact were excluded from the count.

The report stressed that the figure was a minimum estimate because the analysis covered only a defined portion of Dahiyeh . Other buildings used by Hezbollah were struck outside the study area, including in Chiyah and Laylaki.

The study also identified low-rise buildings that had disappeared from satellite imagery by January 2025. The report suggested that some strikes may have involved low-yield precision-guided munitions intended to limit collateral damage.

Among the locations discussed were warehouses, including one the report attributed to Hezbollah’s naval unit, and a target close to Rafik Hariri University Hospital.

The study did not count every building struck during the wider campaign. Structures that sustained localized damage but remained standing were excluded, even when the report identified them as having been used for military purposes.

A wider campaign against Hezbollah’s military infrastructure

The report places the destruction in Dahiyeh within a broader Israeli campaign against Hezbollah’s leadership and military capabilities.

Israeli strikes killed Hamas political bureau deputy Saleh al-Arouri in January 2024 and Hezbollah military chief Fuad Shukr in July. Further attacks killed senior Hezbollah commander Ibrahim Aqil in September, followed by missile and rocket commander Ibrahim Muhammad Qubaisi and aerial unit chief Muhammad Hussein Sarour.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was killed in an Israeli strike on the group’s underground command center on September 27, 2024. His designated successor, Hashem Safieddine, was killed about a week later.

The report also examines Israeli strikes against alleged Hezbollah facilities after the November 2024 ceasefire, including sites linked to drone storage, precision-guided missiles and other military capabilities.

According to Alma, Hezbollah continued efforts to rebuild its military infrastructure after the ceasefire, prompting further Israeli attacks in Dahiyeh and surrounding areas during 2025 and 2026.

The report compared the destruction documented during Operation Northern Arrows with its analysis of Operation Roaring Lion, which ran from March 2 to April 17, 2026. The researchers identified 62 additional Hezbollah-linked sites destroyed in the same study area during the later campaign.

They suggested that the decline in the number of targets could reflect Hezbollah’s difficulty restoring its presence in Dahiyeh after the 2024 campaign, a shift of military assets to other parts of metropolitan Beirut and beyond, or a combination of both factors.

Combining its findings from the two operations with relevant strikes in 2025, the report put the cumulative number of Hezbollah-linked structures destroyed in the study area at 366.