Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon (photo: University of Virginia)

JERUSALEM – Hezbollah, with the help of Iran, has started building underground war bunkers in Palestinian camps in south Lebanon just a few miles from the Israeli border, according to senior Lebanese officials.

During its 34-day confrontation with Hezbollah in Lebanon, Israel destroyed scores of complex Hezbollah bunkers that snaked along the Lebanese side of the Israel-Lebanon border. Military officials said they were surprised by the scale of the Hezbollah bunkers, in which Israeli troops reportedly found war rooms with advanced eavesdropping and surveillance equipment they noted were made by Iran.

A senior Lebanese official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told WND Hezbollah has started building a new set of bunker system, this time in Palestinian refugee camps.

"The Lebanese Army doesn't have the authority to patrol inside the camps," said the official. "Hezbollah knows it is safe there to rebuild their war bunkers, and they began doing so with Iranian help."

A second Lebanese official confirmed the information.

Palestinian groups, including Fatah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, maintain armed bases in Lebanon, mostly in the al-Naemeh province just south of Beirut and in the Bekaa Valley, near Lebanon's border with Syria and Israel.

Several thousand members of the Lebanese Army began deploying last week in south Lebanon, taking positions vacated by Israeli Defense Forces troops, including outside the cities of Tyre and Bint Jbail, which contain large Hezbollah contingents.

Israeli officials say if the Lebanese Army's deployments continue on schedule and if an international force arrives, in line with a United Nations cease-fire resolution, Israeli forces can be withdrawn to within about one mile of Israel's border with Lebanese in 10 days. The IDF is maintaining, for now, some positions throughout south Lebanon. Israel also continues to impose a sea and partial air blockade on Lebanon.

The Lebanese government has stated its army will not confront Hezbollah or work to disarm the group. An agreement reached with Hezbollah last week allows the Lebanese militia to retain its weapons as long as it doesn't display the arms in public.

The agreement is in violation of the U.N. cease-fire resolution reached earlier this month that ended confrontations initiated when Hezbollah ambushed an Israeli patrol unit, kidnapping two soldiers and killing eight others.

The report from Lebanese officials of Hezbollah building new bunkers comes after Israel's Army Radio yesterday quoted security sources in south Lebanon saying Hezbollah dismantled 14 outposts near the border with Israel, removing rockets and equipment for transport.

According to Army Radio, Hezbollah members blocked entry to their outposts using bulldozers. Trucks then removed weapons and other munitions from the area. Vehicles also reportedly cleared furniture and equipment from the outposts.

A senior Israeli security official last week told WND Hezbollah members returned to south Lebanon in full view of the Israeli army, which is withholding operations in line with the cease fire. He said Hezbollah members were among the tens of thousands of Lebanese who returned to the country's southern villages after this month's cease-fire was imposed.

The official warned that Hezbollah maintains the ability to fire hundreds of rockets per day into northern Israel.

"Hezbollah's infrastructure in areas nearing the Latani (River) was not destroyed," the official said.

The official pointed to a volley of 240 rockets fired by Hezbollah one day before the cease-fire was imposed, the largest number the group has launched. One Israeli civilian was killed in the attacks; 26 others were injured.

"The message sent is that Hezbollah absolutely maintains the capability of firing hundreds of rockets per day into Israel," commented the official. "Wasn't one of the military campaign's main goals to eliminate the rocket threat?"

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