Tunnel of attack from Lebanon: Israel conducts Operation "Shield of the North"

(To Franz Ferro)
04/12/18

Despite its name, Operation Northern Shield it is proposed to be a defensive campaign that should not cause an escalation. The question is: how will Iran respond?

The Israeli army has launched an operation to "counter" the tunnels built by Hezbollah that would extend from Lebanon to northern Israel. The military says the tunnels are not operational and that work to neutralize them took place on Israeli territory.

Israeli officials have not revealed where and how many tunnels arrive in Israeli territory from Lebanon or how long the operation will last (v.tweet).

Israel sees Hezbollah, backed by Iran, and its vast reserves of arms as one of the greatest threats. The two sides have fought a one-month war in the 2006.

The Israeli operation began a few hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu organized a trip last minute in Brussels to meet the American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (photo).

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, an Israeli military spokesman, said: "We view Hezbollah's activities as a flagrant violation of Israeli sovereignty and UN resolutions. This activity is another example of the negative effects of Iran's entrenchment in the region.".

Israel spent years trying to deal with the dense network of tunnels that led from the Gaza Strip into Israel, and used a variety of methods to destroy them and prevent them from being rebuilt.

A Lebanese military official said that Lebanese troops and military intelligence agents, along with UN peacekeeping forces deployed in southern Lebanon, are monitoring the border.

In the past, Israel built a massive wall along its northern border, asserting that a barrier was essential to protect civilians from Hezbollah's attacks. While the construction provoked denunciations by the Lebanese army, Hezbollah did not respond: an eloquent indication?

Israel, meanwhile, has not given specific orders to residents in northern Israel, pointing out that Hezbollah's immediate response is not expected.

The existence of the tunnels does not seem to have surprised Israel. The col. Conricus said Hezbollah has developed an offensive plan against Israel that it would have "in fact allowed to move the battlefield in Israel". The group could use firepower and ground units with the addition of "a surprise component that should have been a tunnel system that could have allowed some units to infiltrate Israel".

He added that Israel investigates the possibility of underground Hezbollah tunnels since 2013 and has trained a task force that has been working on their research for two years.

Israel has long expressed concern about Iran's growing military presence along its northern border, indicating the presence of an Iranian corridor that could help Hezbollah in the transfer of arms.

More theoretically than practical, Israel has officially refrained from taking part in the civil war in Syria, although it has carried out dozens of airstrikes against what it claims to be "Iranian supplies of advanced weapons for Hezbollah."

Operation "Northern Shield" comes weeks after Netanyahu faced a severe crisis in his ruling coalition to manage a ceasefire with Gaza militants. In the midst of this crisis, the Israeli prime minister personally took over the management of the defense ministry from the outgoing minister and promised to pursue a hard line against Israel's enemies during what he called a "complex" security situation.

  

Sources:

https://www.thisislancashire.co.uk/news/national/17274091.israel-launches-operation-to-thwart-hezbollah-border-tunnels/

http://www.ansa.it/sito/notizie/mondo/2018/12/04/israele-scoperto-tunnel-hezbollah_ea9600f2-6671-405d-8b54-dcf619412551.html

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-attack-tunnels-from-lebanon...

(photo: IDF / GPO, Haim Zach)