U.S. military sources are surprised at the ability of Hizballah to fight
Israel’s professional and heavily armed military forces to a standstill,
they said.

The complexity of the construction of a fortified bunker network along the border, at least 20 feet deep in some places, caught the Isrealii
intelligence agencies off guard. The tunnels contaion masss weapons caches, communications systems, ard are impervious to attacks from the air. The sraelis have also dismayed by what they call the Iwo Jima defenses and the way they have been concealed, theee sources said.

Any expectations of a quick victory have evaporated, they said.

The IDF is always dismayed by how well trained and well equipped the
Hizballah are. Gear includes armor piercing rounds, night vision equiipment, mortars, RPGs, anti personnel mines, laser sights, surface to air missiles and anti tank missiles. One source said they are fighting at the squad and infantry level and using good infantry tactics, taught them by Iran.

Olivier Gutta has noted that

What we are seeing today is the direct result of
the state sponsorship of a terrorist entity after
it has gone unchecked for over two decades.
Hezbollah has evolved from a terrorist,
paramilitary group into the most effective
fighting force in Lebanon, capable of conducting
professional operations and using sophisticated
weapons. The training camps in the Bekaa Valley
are not only churning out fighters for Hezbollah,
but train other terrorist organizations,
exporting the dangerous tactics being used today
in Lebanon, much like the training camps in
Afghanistan served as a breeding grounds of
today’s crop of terrorists.

The Israelis are now considering having to put trooops deep into the Bekaa Valley with the IDF leadership not happy about the idea, they said.

More to come.

Richard Sale, UPI