On 4 December, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) annoucned the beginning of Operation Northern Shield to destroy cross-border tunnels that the Lebanon-based Hezbollah movement had dug.
Former Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon admitted that the country’s officials had been hiding knowledge of the existence of Hezbollah’s underground tunnels for years before the IDF announced they were launching a military operation.
During his tenure as Israel’s defence minister, Ya’alon was asked at least twice, in 2015 and 2016, about the Hezbollah cross-border attack tunnels, entering Israeli territory from Lebanon, and in both cases he denied their existence.“Hezbollah doesn’t even have a good reason to even dig tunnels in the north” because the Lebanese movement could potentially find other ways to infiltrate Israel.
The IDF announced on 4 December the launch of Operation Northern Shield to destroy the Hezbollah transboundary tunnels to secretly transfer its militants to Israel in any potential future conflict.
Speaking to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Netanyahu has urged international criticism of Hezbollah and more sanctions against the group, declaring the tunnels a “flagrant violation of Israeli sovereignty”.
The Lebanese Army also issued a statement calling Israel’s accusations “mere allegations,” according to the country’s state-run National News Agency (NNA).