In North, Netanyahu threatens Hezbollah: Attack us and face ‘unimaginable blow’
After third tunnel revealed, terrorist group claims it can infiltrate IDF positions
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the North on Tuesday for the second time in less than a week and said the uncovering of a third Hezbollah tunnel was part of “systematically dismantling” the terrorist weapon.
He said Hezbollah will “make a big mistake” if it tries to harm IDF soldiers or resist the army’s operation to expose the tunnels, and would receive a blow “that it cannot even imagine.”
Netanyahu and Chief of Staff Lt.Gen Gadi Eisenkot held a security assessment with OC Northern Command Maj.-Gen Yoel Strick and other senior officers. The prime minister also met with brigade and battalion commanders, as well as with soldiers involved in the operation and with local authority heads in the North.
Netanyahu praised the spirit and preparedness of the soldiers and officers.
“Hezbollah thought that it was building these tunnels without any hindrance,” he said. “We knew about it, and planned for it, and this did not leak out. We keep the secret and planned [this operation] carefully.”
Netanyahu said that the IDF was acting according to plan, and is prepared for all contingencies. “There is great firepower here,” he said in a reference to Hezbollah. “We are prepared for it from all directions.”
The prime minister said the operation was proceeding at a “very good pace” and was even a little ahead of schedule. He said it will continue until Hezbollah’s attack tunnels have been “neutralized.”
Netanyahu dismissed those trying to minimize the scope or importance of the operation, saying all that is needed to understand its importance is to imagine Hezbollah using the tunnels to infiltrate into Israel and go on a killing and kidnapping spree.
“I believe Hezbollah understands that we are well-prepared for any response they may attempt, and that they understand we have tremendous power here in front of them,” he said.
Israel’s military announced the discovery of the third Hezbollah tunnel, just hours after dozens of closeup pictures and videos of IDF troops taking part in Operation Northern Shield were released by Hezbollah, including a map indicating where
the IDF is currently operating.
“Hezbollah’s war-media department launched an intensified campaign to show the weakness and fragility of the Israeli Army, shooting the enemy soldiers from rear positions, which shows that the resistance soldiers can infiltrate into their positions and capture them,” the Lebanese al-Manar website reported.
“The Israeli soldiers [who are] deployed on the border with Lebanon have become a joke as the Lebanese public enjoyed making fun of them,” it said. “[The] Hezbollah phantom is always haunting the Israelis, imposing on them certain formulas which they would never have followed.”
Several of the pictures showed IDF troops operating alongside UNIFIL peacekeepers, while others showed troops smoking or resting. The map released by Hezbollah shows five locations where it claims Israel’s military is currently excavating to locate tunnels across from the southern Lebanese villages of Kfar Kila, Mis Al-Jabel, Blida, Ramya and Alma Ash-Sha’b.
Operation Northern Shield was launched last week to detect and neutralize cross-border attack tunnels dug by the Iranian-backed Shi’ite organization. On Tuesday, the military announced the discovery of a third tunnel that crossed into Israel; one is outside the community of Metulla and the location of the other two cannot be disclosed.
“The route, like the rest of the tunnels, is under IDF control – and anyone who enters it on the Lebanese side endangers their life,” an IDF Spokesperson’s Unit statement said. “The Lebanese government is responsible for the digging of the tunnels from Lebanese territory. This is a serious
violation of Resolution 1701 and the sovereignty of the State of Israel.”
The IDF stressed that the tunnel did not pose an imminent threat to nearby residents.
Meanwhile, UNIFIL released a statement confirming the existence of two tunnels in the “general area” of Metulla, and called Hezbollah’s project “a serious matter.”
“This is a work in progress, and UNIFIL will make every effort to maintain clear and credible channels of communication with both sides so that there is no room for misunderstanding on this sensitive matter,” read the statement. “The calm and stability along the Blue Line must be preserved,” referring to the UN demarcation of the border between Israel and Lebanon.
Dozens of Hezbollah tunnels are believed to have been dug along the 130-kilometer border between Israel and Lebanon. The military said Operation Northern Shield would take several months to complete.
On Tuesday, a delegation of senior IDF officers led by IDF Operations Directorate head Maj.-Gen. Aharon Haliva, departed for Moscow to brief their Russian counterparts on Operation Northern Shield and other operational issues.
On Monday night, the IDF released audio recordings of what it said were sounds of Hezbollah terrorists digging tunnels. These sounds allowed the IDF to locate three of the tunnels, two of which had crossed into northern Israel.
The recordings of seismic activity, the IDF said, led the joint task force of the Intelligence Directorate and the Northern Command – known as “the Laboratory” – to find the underground passageways. The technology used by the unit included existing sensors and new equipment that is able to manipulate the data received
by the sensors to locate the tunnels. Once a tunnel is located, the military works with the elite Yahalom special engineering unit and civilian contractors to fully expose and neutralize it.
“The development of the capabilities and operating techniques of the Laboratory in the Northern Command were carried out in light of our attempts to use the Laboratory in the Gaza Division,” said Col. Yaniv Avitan of the IDF’s Technology and Logistics Directorate. “We have at our disposal, in the technology department of the IDF Ground Forces, the best technological minds and tools that are needed to fulfill this mission.”
The Laboratory is led by Capt. G, whose full name cannot be released for security purposes. It is made up of soldiers from technology and intelligence units and is based on a similar unit stationed along Israel’s border with the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.
“We brought with us the knowledge that we accumulated there and brought it North,” said Capt. G, who previously served as the deputy head of the Southern Command’s tunnel unit. “We learned that when we bring together field engineers, researchers and technology people from a variety of disciplines, the results aren’t slow to come.”•