by: Yair Kraus ~ Ynetnews
A view of the border fence near Metula, an Israeli community on the border with Lebanon (illustrative)
Tuesday, 18 March 2025 | This covert plan, codenamed “Silver Plow,” was conceived in the initial days following October 7. The IDF Northern Command had completed its reservist call-up in a matter of days, and tens of thousands of soldiers had reported for duty on the Lebanese border in an effort to prevent Hezbollah from joining the Hamas attack.
Amid the uncertainty and deliberations within the general staff and security cabinet over whether to first act on the northern front against Hezbollah to thwart the anticipated attack or to focus first on Gaza, an unprecedented engineering operation was launched.
It aimed to reshape the sector and utilize each and every day of fighting to ensure that by the time calm returned, the border would look completely different. As security restrictions on border communities were lifted and evacuees returned, the IDF stated that with regard to the borderline, on both the Israeli and Lebanese sides—Mission accomplished.
For over a year, in what became one of the IDF’s most complex engineering operations, thousands of engineering and infantry soldiers shaped the new border of diverse terrain along more than 120 km [74.5 mi.] stretching from Rosh Hanikra to Har Dov.
Hezbollah had spent decades constructing terrorist compounds in buildings, forests and underground infrastructure along the entire border as part of Nasrallah’s plan to conquer the Galilee. Now, the IDF sought to ensure that the entire border zone, including a few dozen kilometers into Lebanese territory, would be cleared and barren.
Back to the Second Lebanon War
Until the early hours of last Tuesday, when the IDF completed its withdrawal from south Lebanon (with the exception of five strategic points within Lebanese territory), IDF engineering personnel were still pulling up trees and clearing the thicket overlooking Israel’s northern communities.
“We divided up the border into sections and broke down each sector based on its topography and the type of engineering work it required,” says Northern Command Chief Engineering Officer, Col. I. Back in 2006, as a young officer, he had fought in the Second Lebanon War. When he withdrew with the troops after 36 days of fighting, he felt a sense of frustration knowing the task had not been completed. This time around, he means to finish the job.
“Back in October 2023, when the war kicked off, we brought in geologists, engineers and earthworks experts to provide solutions for the forests, wadis [deep valley], buildings and underground infrastructure we knew we would encounter during the mission,” says Col. I.
For almost a year, up to September 2024, the IDF didn’t know whether or not there would be a ground operation into Lebanon or what would come of the engineering efforts to avert a ground incursion.
“Our operational priorities rested on firstly addressing the areas facing civilian communities,” says Col. I. This was to prevent Hezbollah from preparing itself in the dense forested areas so as to infiltrate Israel under the cover of the thicket. Working methodically, engineering forces continued addressing operational weak points such as wadis serving as potential infiltration routes.
At some stage, the IDF gave up on waiting for an IDF ground operation into Lebanon. Each night, under the cover of darkness, armored engineering vehicles would work beyond the Blue Line, and were later joined by lighter armored vehicles for covert operations that were conducted with artillery back-up.
Since the war started, 300 military and commandeered civilian mechanical engineering equipment vehicles, joined by four engineering battalions—some brought in from other sectors—have been working away along the border, invariably under fire and anti-tank missile attack. And soldiers have been wounded.
“We stretched our engineering capabilities to the limit while, at the same time, supporting the ground operation troops.”
The operation’s turning point came as the ground operation into Lebanon kicked off October 2024. “Once we attained operational control of the sector, we stopped our ‘regular’ work and went in with full force. We drafted hundreds of reservist engineering soldiers and civilian earthworks contractors who joined in demolishing terrorist infrastructure across the entire sector,” says Col. I.
Positions Made of Scraps
I meet reservist officer Lt. Col. S. of the 146th division, responsible for the western sector from Rosh Hanikra to Shtula, by Kibbutz Hanita’s perimeter fence. “You should have seen what the wadi here looked like a year back,” he says pointing at the wadi across the border. “It was one hell of a forest and we were working at crazy inclines to remove all the thicket to ensure no one could infiltrate without us spotting them.”
Engineering troops cleared 200 meters [656 ft.] to a kilometer [0.6 mi.] from the border. “Take Maroun El Ras, overlooking Avivim: We completely cleared the buildings at the highest spots and took down anything capable of firing at the community. We obviously cleared the whole extensive underground infrastructure that we found in the village and on its slopes.”
The 146th battalion’s engineering personnel cleared a sum total of 9.5 kilometer [5.9 mi.] of tough terrain. “We stretched our engineering capabilities to the limit while, at the same time, supporting the ground operation troops, providing them with engineering jobs deep inside Lebanon,” says Lt. Col. S. “We gave all we could including handheld electric saws in spots the D9s couldn’t reach and machetes to clear paths for the excavators.”
Without taking his eyes off the striking wadi, bare of trees and heavy bushes, he says, “When we found underground bunkers, command centers, rooms for terrorists, observation and firing positions etc., it was a fortified thicket. Now, looking at this area, you can see that the enemy can’t position itself or hide there anymore.”
Lt. Col. S. describes the terrorist infrastructure Hezbollah had prepared for its incursion into Israel which Israeli soldiers found in the summer of 2006 beneath the primitive “nature reserves”. “Here, we saw how Hezbollah was preparing to reach the border fence. You’re walking along, and suddenly you feel something unsteady.
You clear the undergrowth, pick up a net, and underneath there’s a wooden panel, and inside there’s a dug-out outpost with complete combat equipment inside a barrel. Under the cover of darkness or fog, all the Redwan forces had to do was take the barrel out, get dressed, pull out the iron frame hidden nearby in the ground, attach the explosive devices, attach that to the wall or fence and detonate it.
They would then charge ahead with hundreds more militants awaiting orders.
Unhindered by UN “peacekeeping” forces, Hezbollah operatives also dug terrorist infrastructure next to UNIFIL outposts.
Each evening, Lt. Col. S. and his personnel would sit down to approve the following day’s sabotage operations. Their need for landmines and explosive materials was met with limited allocations due to immense operational needs in both the north and south.
They came up with creative solutions. It may mean driving to the southern part of the Golan Heights and, cautiously, gathering live anti-tank mines, loading them onto trucks and taking them directly to Hezbollah tunnels and infrastructure. “The minimum we needed to blow up the infrastructure was eight tons and we only had four. We would do everything to ensure we had eight tons,” he says with a smile.
Lt. Col. S. was among the first soldiers to go into the tunnel dug near Moshav Zarit, the only cross-border tunnel structure the IDF found in the north during the war. This tunnel was not yet completed or operational. For months, however, intelligence units and infantry troops had been, “holding” it, waiting for the order to clear and destroy it.
“So that Hezbollah couldn’t remain there, before approaching the tunnels and underground installations, for which we had extensive intelligence, we destroyed nearby generators, solar panels, ventilation systems and cameras Hezbollah had installed for observation and surveillance purposes.
Cutting Down the Shrubs
Last week, a few days before the withdrawal from southern Lebanon was completed, I went to examine the clearing operation’s results on the other side of the fence. At the Fatima Gate between Israel and Lebanon on the outskirts of Metula, I met the 91st Division’s red-haired engineering officer Lt. Col. G. We set out together, driving through the Kfar Kila and Al-Aadaissah which I had visited several times over the past year.
They looked totally different each time. “Remember how Hezbollah operatives would be standing on the Hammamis Ridge and would irritate the people of Metula with lasers? You can’t get there by vehicle anymore and anyone trying get there on foot to provoke or harm us.”
“On October 7, we were up there on the mountain, waiting for the Redwan Force,” says Maj. I. pointing at the kibbutz overlooking us. “For months, Hezbollah operatives were wondering around here freely launching Burkan rockets and missiles. In the village below us, the Egoz reconnaissance unit was engaged in a fierce battle.”
Last week, to the dismay of northern residents, Hezbollah operatives returned to what were their homes, and Lebanese engineering vehicles immediately started clearing the rubble so as to rebuild them. Hezbollah flags, are once again visible among the ruins, and Lebanese civilians are try approaching the fence on a daily basis.
Municipality leaders have called out the government for not insisting that the enemy will never return.
“At the end of the day, the clearing operation is yet one more, highly significant, step meant to provide the residents with tangible and visible security,” says Lt. Col. G. “IDF troops are positioned in front of, rather than behind, the communities and we’re building layer upon layer so that residents of Metula can return to sleep in their own homes.”
Posted on March 18, 2025
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