Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement to the media at the Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv, Israel December 4, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad Israel launched an operation on Dec. 4 targeting cross-border tunnels used by Hezbollah to take over portions of the Galilee.
Video footage from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) show two men, presumed to be Hezbollah members, approaching a small IDF robot in a tunnel located in Metulla, an Israeli town on the Israel-Lebanon border. The robot detonates a small explosive device, prompting the men to flee.
The IDF believes that Hezbollah has several such tunnels; under Operation Northern Shield, the Israeli military will be aiming to destroy the tunnels over the next several weeks.
“Hezbollah is building these terror tunnels in order to attack Israel, take Israeli citizens hostage and spread terror,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “Hezbollah’s tunnel project is another example of the dangerous strengthening of Hezbollah that is funded, supported and directed by Iran.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the Defense Ministry, “The operation will continue until the outcome is achieved, however long that may take.”
White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said in a statement posted on Twitter that the United States “strongly supports” Israel’s actions against Hezbollah.
My statement in response to Hizballah’s tunneling across the Blue Line. pic.twitter.com/KbcutHUOpe
— John Bolton (@AmbJohnBolton) December 4, 2018
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