IDF Spokespersons Unit gave a tour of massive Hezbollah tunnel with depth of 22 story building; Tunnel included water, electricity, communications and ventilation, entered over 250 feet into Israeli territory; IDF: In response to Hezbollah’s Iran-backed terror activity along the border, we have enhanced our presence in the Northern Command…
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) destroyed the last Iran-backed, Hezbollah cross-border terror tunnel entering Israeli territory on Wednesday. The tunnel was the longest discovered during Israel’s Operation Northern Shield which started in December of last year. The tunnel was 260 ft. deep and ran over 2,500 ft. long. The depth of the tunnel was that of a 22-story building and was equipped with electricity and communications equipment, including phones, as well as water pipes, ventilation systems and much more.
The IDF released video footage of the tunnel, IDF Spokesperson Lt. Col Jonathan Conricus giving a tour of the advanced tunnel that reached 250 feet into Israeli territory, just hundreds of meters from an Israeli town. He showed that the tunnel was “fully equipped with electricity, with communications, with ventilation and everything needed for a terrorist to get from Lebanon into Israel in order to perpetrate an attack against Israeli citizens. Hezbollah has been digging this [tunnel] and many other for several years in direct violation of Resolution 1701,” which demands Hezbollah not possess illegal weapons or have any presence in southern Lebanon. Lebanon is supplied with illegal weapons by Iran and continues its terror activity in southern Lebanon.
Operation Northern Shield was launched in December of 2018 after the IDF announced it had been monitoring the tunnels for several years. The tunnel network, which has been funded and supported directly by Iran to be used to attack Israel, has been under IDF surveillance since the Second Lebanon War in 2006. Hezbollah had plans to use it’s tunnels to carry out a massacre on the Israeli town of Metulla to be “followed by a full-scale missile assault and ground invasion”. The tunnels, which were confirmed by the UN peacekeeping forces, UNIFIL, are in violation of international law, specifically, UN Security Council Resolution 1701 established following the 2006 Lebanon War.
The IDF has sealed off and destroyed the six tunnels found during Operation Northern Shield. It has warned Hezbollah against further construction of tunnels as Israel continues to call on the global community to condemn and take action against the terrorist organization. It has been clear that “These tunnels send a clear message as to the true priorities of the terrorist organization Hezbollah. In doing this, Hezbollah has also put its goal of Israel’s destruction before the safety of Lebanese civilians. In response to Hezbollah’s Iran-backed terror activity along the border, we have enhanced our presence in the Northern Command and are ready to protect Israeli civilians from Hezbollah.” The Mossad and IDF also continue to covertly thwart weapons shipments from Iran to Hezbollah, mainly from its bases in Syria.
Photo: Northfoto/Shutterstock.com
