Israel says it uncovered last Hezbollah tunnel, completing operation





Tel Aviv - The Israeli army has uncovered the last Hezbollah "cross-border attack tunnel" dug from Lebanon into Israel, the army said Sunday morning.

Army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said on a press call that the tunnel was found on Saturday night, marking the completion of "Operation Northern Shield."



 
The operation began on December 4 with the stated aim of exposing and neutralizing the tunnels, which Israel has decried as a violation of its sovereignty.
Conricus said this was the longest of the tunnels, measuring 800 meters in Lebanon and stretching dozens of meters into Israel. It is 55 meters deep, he said.
He also remarked that this was more sophisticated than other tunnels, appearing to be well-designed and dug, including stairs, a rail system for rubble, as well as electricity and ventilation.
It was the second tunnel found leading from the Lebanese border village of Ramyeh and was dug from underneath a private home.
The army said it would be neutralized in the coming days and it had notified the heads of the relevant local authorities and the UN peacekeeping mission UNIFIL.
UNIFIL, which monitors the situation at the border between Israel and Lebanon, confirmed the existence of the tunnels after an inspection to the south of the border line in December.
It also confirmed that tunnels crossing into Israel were in violation of UN resolution 1701, which ended the Lebanon War in 2006.
UNIFIL has been monitoring the border area between Israel and Lebanon since 1978, and currently has 10,000 UN troops deployed in the region.

 


Sunday, January 13th 2019
(dpa)
           


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