LONDON: Hezbollah is proving a tough opponent for Israel because of their Viet Cong-style network of tunnels in southern Lebanon, the authoritative Jane's Defence Weekly magazine said on Friday.
The Shiite Muslim militia has launched hundreds of rockets on towns in northern Israel and is seemingly still capable to carry on with the rocket strikes despite a punishing bombardment by the Jewish state, Jane's said.
The Israel Defence Force (IDF) has acknowledged that the number of Hezbollah casualties is low, estimated at no more than several dozen out of the nearly 340 killed in Lebanon since the fighting started, the magazine said.
Israel waged deadly strikes on Lebanon for the 10th day on Friday and mobilised more troops after warning it could launch a full-scale ground invasion -- despite mounting international calls for a ceasefire.
After more than 3,000 air raids against targets in Lebanon, according to a Jane's tally, the IDF ground units have now begun operating north of the Lebanese border, seeking to destroy Hezbollahs first line of defence.
Alon Ben-David, a Jane's Defence Weekly correspondent, said that intensive Israeli air raids had done limited damage to Hezbollah's defensive fortifications, despite IDF special forces launching small incursions into Lebanese territory.
"The Israeli forces have discovered that Hezbollah has established a Viet Cong-style network of tunnels and trenches close to the Israeli border, providing shelter for its operatives and their weapons," said Ben-David.
"The IDF is meeting a fierce resistance from Hezbollah and have suffered a considerable number of casualties in the fighting."
Viet Cong resistance fighters fought from a giant tunnel network during the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975.
Jane's said that Israel wanted to avoid a ground operation in Lebanon, though a growing number of IDF commanders were advocating that only a major offensive could bring about the collapse of Hezbollah as a fighting force.
"The IDF is deploying thousands of infantry personnel on the Lebanese border, although these are not accompanied by heavy armour which would signify a larger invasion," said Ben-David.
An unnamed senior defence source told Janes Defence Weekly: "We should consider that what we are facing in Lebanon is not a militia but rather a special forces brigade of the Iranian Army.
"They are extremely well trained and equipped and charged with high motivation to continue fighting."
