Israel's Army Says It Found Tunnels Dug By Hezbollah Beneath Border With Lebanon

Israel has launched a military operation intended to "expose and destroy" a series of tunnels it says Hezbollah dug into Israel from Lebanon, where the militant group is based. The military said the tunnels were not currently being used by militants and that its work to find and neutralize them was taking place inside Israeli territory. Attack tunnels were long rumored to have been dug from southern Lebanon into Israeli territory by the Iran-backed terror group, but in recent years Israeli defense officials repeatedly either denied their existence or refused to discuss the matter. The tunnels were dug "from within civilian houses in Lebanon into Israel," Conricus said, calling it a tactic that was born out of the end of the 2006 war. Conricus said the tunnels “are not yet operationally ready” and therefore did not pose an “immediate threat.”

The operation came as tensions on Israel’s northern border have ramped up in recent days, and hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Brussels for a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss Iran and security challenges on Israel’s northern border, likely referring to Hezbollah. A number of areas adjacent to the northern Israel security fence have been declared “closed military zones.” US National Security Advisor John Bolton said he supported the Israeli operation and criticized what he described as Iran’s “regional aggression.” “The US strongly supports Israel’s efforts to defend its sovereignty, and we call on Hezbollah to stop its tunneling into Israel and to refrain from escalation and violence,” Bolton said Tuesday. “This activity is another example of the negative effects of Iranian entrenchment in the region.”

Israel has spent years attempting to tackle a network of tunnels from the Gaza Strip into Israel and has used a variety of methods to destroy tunnels and prevent them from being rebuilt. Conricus also accused the Lebanese government of failing to prevent Hezbollah from establishing a military presence in southern Lebanon, despite this being a violation of United Nations Resolution 1701, which ended the 2006 Second Lebanon War and called for all armed groups besides the Lebanese military to remain north of the country’s Litani River. He added that Israel has investigated the possibility of underground Hezbollah tunnels since 2013 and that a task force established in 2014 has been searching for them for more than two years. Israel and Hezbollah have avoided any major conflict across the Lebanese-Israeli border since their last war in 2006, though Israel has mounted attacks in Syria targeting what it said were advanced weapon deliveries to the Shi’ite Muslim group.
Israel announces an operation to clear Hezbollah tunnels from Lebanon-Israeli border.