Israel announced on Tuesday the launch of a military operation aimed at “exposing and thwarting” Hezbollah tunnels stretching from Lebanon into northern Israel.
A spokesman, Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus, said the Israeli military was aware of a number of tunnels crossing into Israel from Lebanon to the north.
The military said in a statement it had “enhanced its presence and readiness in the Northern Command and is prepared for various scenarios”.
The operation comes hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a last- minute trip to Brussels to meet Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
An Israeli government source said the purpose of the meeting was to update Pompeo of the tunnel operation.
“Whoever tries to harm Israel will pay a heavy price,” Netanyahu said in a statement after returning to Israel early in the morning.
“The digging of the cross-border attack tunnels that the Israel forces has discovered, before the attack tunnels became operational and posed an imminent threat to the safety of Israeli civilians, constitutes a flagrant and severe violation of Israeli sovereignty,” the military said.
The current focus of operations was near the Israeli border town Metulla, Conricus said, adding that some areas near the border fence had been closed off. An Israeli military source said the operation might take weeks to complete.
Israel released video footage of digging and pile-driving equipment at work in unidentified locations with trees and bushes in the background.
It later published a photograph of a tunnel that it said it had uncovered. Israel said the tunnel originated under a house around the Lebanese village of Kfar Kila and crossed the border near Israel’s northernmost town, Metulla.
The Israeli military’s Arabic media spokesman posted a message on Twitter warning the Lebanese army and Hezbollah to stay away, saying: “Your lives are in danger, you have been warned.”
There was no immediate comment from Hezbollah. A Lebanese army source said the situation was calm on its side of the border, as did the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
"The situation in UNIFIL's area of operation remains calm," Malene Jensen, a spokeswoman for the UN peacekeeping mission which monitors the border region, said in a statement.
"UNIFIL is liaising with all relevant interlocutors to ensure that the parties use the UNIFIL liaison and coordination mechanisms to maintain the continued calm and stability," she said.
Israel and Hezbollah have avoided any major conflict across the Lebanese-Israeli border since their last war in 2006, though Israel has mounted attacks in Syria targeting what it said were advanced weapon deliveries to the group.
