Over the past week, IDF forces under the 91st Division seized one of Hezbollah’s key strategic sites, a drone launch complex built by Iran about 10 kilometers from Israel in the southern Lebanon village of Majdal Zun. The military allowed publication of the operation on Sunday. The site, carved into the mountain under the Shiite village, was used early in the war to fire hundreds of UAVs at Israel. Some Israeli officers called it Hezbollah’s “Ramat David base” in Lebanon, while others dubbed it the group’s “Ben Gurion Airport for drones.”
Majdal Zun sits in the center of the Shiite ridge in southern Lebanon, with views south toward Rosh Hanikra, Shlomi, Zarit, Ma’alot and Shtula, and north toward the Tyre plain and Tyre itself. Reserve commandos determined that taking the village and reaching the UAV facility were essential to control the area and prevent Hezbollah from rebuilding there. The main tunnel entrance was in the center of the village, near a mosque and a school, and was protected by thick concrete walls and blast doors.
Lt. Col. D., commander of a unit in Yahalom, said the facility was built more than 20 meters underground in rocky ground and used 5 to 10 ton blast doors. He said, “It was important for us to get here very much.” He added that taking the drones for intelligence will help Israel find ways to defend itself in the future. According to the report, the underground complex also included a workshop for building UAVs, explosives and explosive materials, and was directed by Iran’s Quds Force.
At the end of the week, just before the military engineers destroyed the tunnel system, the IDF brought journalists into the site. The operation began from Rosh Hanikra in a guarded convoy at dusk. The army said the underground facility, about 20 meters deep, contained a huge workshop and launch infrastructure that had already been struck from the air in 2024, but had to be entered on the ground because it was too fortified to destroy only from the air. In the fighting, fighters from Brigade 551 killed about 80 militants in the village, and some emerged from the site to engage IDF troops. Inside, soldiers found body cameras used by militants to film themselves firing toward Israel and a recent notebook of despair. After the ceasefire in Lebanon, the brigade said it now follows a green line and red line for suspects, issuing warning fire if someone crosses the green line and shooting to kill if they cross the red line, while militants who are not an immediate threat and are outside the Israeli security zone are not attacked under the political leadership’s order to restrain fire.
