The Israeli military on Thursday began to seal off four cross-border attack tunnels breaching Israeli territory from Lebanon.
The tunnels were dug by Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group, and were discovered as part of Operation Northern Shield, launched on Dec. 4 with aim of neutralizing the underground grid.
The Israeli military said that at this time, the operation is open-ended and aims to destroy the entire network.
Residents of several Israeli border-adjacent communities reported hearing the echoes of explosions on Thursday evening.
IDF Spokesman in English Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus confirmed that those were the sounds of controlled explosions, saying that Israeli forces were working at more than one location.
He stressed that all activities were taking place inside Israeli territory.
An IDF statement said this was part of "operational activities currently taking part on the border. The mayors of the communities near the border have been advised accordingly. The IDF continues with its efforts to uncover and neutralize terror tunnels."
IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Ronen Manelis later told reporters that the process of neutralizing Hezbollah's tunnels was pursued according to each passageway's individual outline, noting that every tunnel was different.
"This part of the operation will take more than one day. The plan is to render the Hezbollah tunnels breaching our territory useless," he said.
A military statement added that the IDF "holds the Lebanese government responsible for Hezbollah's excavation enterprise" and warned the Lebanese army and civilians against approaching the tunnels on their side of the border.
