On December 4, 2018, the IDF launched Operation Northern Shield to destroy Hezbollah’s cross-border tunnels between Israel and Lebanon. The operation, following intelligence surveillance of a number of years. is underway via a well thought-out plan that combines intelligence exposure, engineering-based targeted action, and cognitive and diplomatic activity, all of which demonstrate clearly to Lebanon in general and Hezbollah in particular the aims and scope of the operation. The goal is both to minimize the risk of misunderstanding Israeli measures and to mobilize international support for the operation. Although the destruction of the tunnels itself is not expected to lead to immediate escalation, the complex and volatile relationship between Israel on the one hand and Iran and Hezbollah on the other has entered another sensitive stage; this requires rational and measured management in order to prevent being drawn into a war that neither side wants. In the event of deterioration in the security situation along the Lebanese border, Israel should leverage the exposure of the tunnels to send a message to Iran, via the United States and Russia, that it must act to restrain Hezbollah’s offensive action, and that Iran must not interfere in a military clash that erupts between Israel and Hezbollah.

Read More at INSS.