BICOM

The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) launched a major operation this morning, to destroy tunnels built by Hezbollah under the Israeli-Lebanese border.

The operation called “Northern Shield,” is a result of four years of operational planning and intelligence gathering by a joint task-force of the Intelligence Directorate and Northern Command.

“The IDF has been implementing a unique defensive plan along the northern border, including the construction of a defensive wall, the ‘Defensive Obstacle Project,’ creating cliffs and clearing vegetation. The aim of this defensive plan is to prevent the enemy from fulfilling his offensive plan and abilities,” the Israeli military said.

The IDF say that since 2006, Hezbollah has been building attack tunnels stretching from Lebanon into Israel at several points along the border, although work on them was unfinished. “The digging of the cross-border attack tunnels that the IDF has discovered, before the attack tunnels became operational and posed an imminent threat to the safety of Israeli civilians, constitutes a flagrant and severe violation of Israeli sovereignty … [and] the most blatant proof of the violation of UN Resolution 1701 that ended the Second Lebanon War,” the IDF said.

The IDF have closed several areas adjacent to the security fence along the Lebanese border, preventing farmers from working in the area.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, has spoken in the past of a plan to take over parts of the Galilee in northern Israel, in a future conflict. Yesterday, Hezbollah threatened to attack a number of strategic locations in Israel, including the nuclear reactor in Dimona, along with a warning, “If you dare attack, you will regret it.”

IDF Spokesperson Ronen Manelis told reporters yesterday: “We have indisputable proof that the Lebanese government is not in control of their border. Iranian money is behind these tunnels. We are in full control of the situation and are determined to remove the underground Hezbollah threat from the northern border. The tunnels do cross into Israeli territory, but the work on them was not complete.”

Members of the Israeli Security Cabinet have been asked not to comment on the operation or give media interviews at this stage.