Israeli troops find Hezbollah base near U.N. outpost

Israeli officials on Friday said their soldiers in southern Lebanon discovered an elaborate Hezbollah training center operating under the nose of a nearby U.N. outpost.

Israeli troops have been conducting “limited, localized, targeted raids” in recent weeks in southern Lebanon designed to eliminate terrorists, locate weapons and dismantle Hezbollah’s infrastructure, Israeli military officials said on their Telegram messaging page.

The Israeli troops found what appeared to be a Hezbollah terrorist training center 200 meters from a post occupied by soldiers from the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.

“The compound was used by terrorists for training, studying and storing large quantities of weapons. The facility contained launchers prepared for firing at Israeli communities,” military officials said.

The Israeli soldiers also found Hezbollah documents and training manuals that detail the terror group’s operational methods. They also discovered maps of Israel, information about Israel’s military equipment and a tunnel system.

“The weapons were confiscated, and the compound was dismantled,” Israeli military officials said.

The U.N. Interim Force consists of 10,500 troops from about 50 countries. Its mission, which dates back to 1978, is to help produce peace and security and help the legitimate Lebanese government assume custody of the border region with Israel.