The Israeli airstrikes on the night of December 8 in Iqlim al-Tuffah, north of the Litani River, suggest that the confrontation with Hezbollah is entering a more complex phase. The strikes are no longer limited to visible targets but are increasingly aimed at the group’s hidden infrastructure; the core of Hezbollah’s operational power.

According to the Israeli Alma Research Center, the strikes hit training sites of Hezbollah’s Radwan Unit, rocket launch platforms, and an area the center described as containing an extensive tunnel network classified by Israel as strategic infrastructure within what it calls the “Land of Tunnels” project. Evidence indicates that parts of this network stretch for dozens of kilometers across rugged terrain, engineered to allow maneuvering and endurance in the event of a large-scale conflict.

The strikes, carrying both intelligence and military significance, have reopened a broader and more sensitive file. If tunnels spanning Nabatiyeh, Jezzine, and southern Lebanon constitute a central node in Hezbollah’s network, then what about the Bekaa Valley which was long regarded as the group’s strategic rear base, historically used for storage, logistics, and discreet movements?

Security sources speaking to kataeb.org said the Bekaa is far from being a secondary issue. It is among the most sensitive files being quietly assessed by Lebanese security agencies and international partners. According to the sources, the region contains passages, tunnels, and underground facilities for logistics, as well as infrastructure supporting vital supply lines linking Lebanon to the Syrian border, thus effectively functioning as Hezbollah’s operational “respiratory system” in any prolonged confrontation.

Sources added that this issue is now part of discussions surrounding the Lebanese Army’s broader plan, which remains in its early technical stages, which aims to eventually address the problem of illegal weapons more comprehensively. Though not publicly disclosed, the plan forms part of a cumulative strategic vision under close review by decision-makers.

The Bekaa’s strategic importance is not only geographic — favorable for concealment and tunnel construction — but also because it provides Hezbollah with depth for repositioning, transport, and resupply away from front-line exposure. Its mountainous terrain, vast spaces, and proximity to the Syrian border make underground infrastructure there far more consequential than similar networks south of the Litani.

These factors, according to sources, explain Israel’s increasing focus on what it considers Hezbollah’s rear infrastructure, including the systems supporting the group’s rockets and precision capabilities, which Israel regards as a major threat in any potential full-scale conflict.

In this context, the strikes in Iqlim al-Tuffah appear to mark a shift in the rules of engagement. They indicate that Israel is willing to target fortified sites beyond conventional operational zones south of the Litani, as part of a broader strategy focused on dismantling networks rather than individual positions, and degrading deep infrastructure rather than surface-level facilities. Unlike training centers, tunnels require years of construction and advanced engineering, making them high-value strategic targets. Striking even part of the network raises questions about what Israel may attempt to uncover next.

All of this opens the door to a sensitive scenario: could escalation gradually move toward the Bekaa in the coming phase? At the same time, any domestic Lebanese effort to reorganize the country’s illegal military landscape will inevitably collide with the multilayered structure Hezbollah has entrenched in that region, both above and below ground.