At the late hours of December 21, the Israeli military blew up several “attack tunnels” of Hezbollah inside Israel territory. The sound of the explosions was reportedly heard in southern Lebanon and in some Israeli settlements near the “blue line,” which separates the countries.
“The neutralization and destruction phase of Hezbollah’s attack tunnels dug from Lebanon into Israel has begun. Our effort to expose additional tunnels continues according to plan,” the Israeli military said on Twitter.
Two of the tunnels, which were destroyed, start in the Lebanese towns of Ramyah and Kafr Kila, according to Avichay Adraee, a spokesman for the Israeli military, who called on Lebanese civilians to stay away from the entrances of the alleged tunnels.
#عاجل مرحلة إحباط أنفاق #حزب_الله ستتم من خلال عدة طرق ووسائل وستخرج الأنفاق عن الخدمة وستمنع من منظمة #حزب_الله استخدامها وتحقيق خطتها.#درع_الشمال pic.twitter.com/OQPW9umg3u
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) December 20, 2018
Earlier this month, the Israeli military launched Operation Northern Shield with the aim of discovering and neutralizing Hezbollah’s attack tunnels. So far, only four short tunnels were uncovered.
The Israeli operation was seen by many local observers as an attempt by Tel Aviv to provoke Hezbollah and drag it into a military confrontation.
