As IDF forces continued to expose and destroy Hezbollah tunnels on the Israeli-Lebanese border amid Operation Northern Shield, Hezbollah deputy leader Naim Qassem issued threats Sunday in an interview with Iranian media, saying that Hezbollah has Israel "deterred."
"It is not an option for the Zionist enemy to take military action against Lebanon," Qassem declared. "Since 2006 [Second Lebanon War], they have been deterred."
Qassem said that Hezbollah was not actively firing at Israel, but added that Hezbollah's responses to Israeli "attacks" would be enough to start a war between Israel and Lebanon.
"The Israeli home front – even Tel Aviv – is vulnerable," he told the Arabic-language Iranian newspaper Al-Vefagh, which is published by the state-run IRNA.
"There is no target in the Zionist entity that is not within the range of Hezbollah missiles," he said, referring to Israel.
Qassem went on to say that "the Zionists" were unwilling to suffer such an attack, "even when they say, 'If Hezbollah attacks.'"
According to Qassem the "rules of the game" Hezbollah had established in Lebanon and the rules of deterrence Israel had established for itself would make it "very difficult" for Israel to consider launching a war against Lebanon.
On Saturday, Israeli forces announced the discovery of another Hezbollah tunnel dug from Lebanon into Israeli territory, an announcement that came shortly after troops fired at suspected Hezbollah operatives who approached the site of IDF engineering work.
The tunnel is at least the second cross-border tunnel discovered since Israel launched Operation Northern Shield last week to detect and "neutralize" attack passageways dug by the Iranian-backed group into northern Israel.
IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told reporters the new tunnel runs into Israel but "does not pose an imminent threat to Israeli communities."
He said the military planted explosives in the tunnel to prevent infiltration, adding that Israel holds the Lebanese government responsible "for Hezbollah's activities and all Hezbollah violations."
The IDF warned Israeli and Lebanese residents living near the tunnel to keep their distance.
Israel plans to expand its operation to locate and neutralize Hezbollah tunnels to additional locations on the northern border. The military expects the operation to last another few weeks until all the tunnels dug beneath the border over the past few years have been found and destroyed.
Earlier on Saturday, the IDF fired at three Hezbollah suspects who approached the border where the army was working.
Conricus said Israeli troops crossed the fence into Lebanon but did not breach the U.N.-established demarcation line.
According to Conricus, Hezbollah operatives took advantage of the inclement weather to try to steal IDF equipment but fled after Israeli forces opened fire at them.
The Lebanese version of events was somewhat different.
"Israeli enemy soldiers shot into the air following their deployment near the Blue Line [of demarcation] in Kroum al-Sharaqi region to the east of Meis al-Jabal village," the state-run National News Agency said.
The Israelis "were surprised, due to thick fog, by a routine Lebanese army patrol inside the Lebanese territories," the NNA report added.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss Israel's intention to "foil the tunnels' threat," according to a statement from Netanyahu's office.
Netanyahu vowed to continue efforts "to prevent the establishment of an Iranian presence in Syria and to act against Iranian and Hezbollah aggression," the statement added.
Netanyahu's office also said that he and Putin had agreed that mutual security teams would meet to discuss the threats and Operation Northern Shield.
The relationship between Russia and Israel has been strained since September, when Russia accused Israel of indirectly causing the downing of a Russian military jet by Syrian air defenses following an Israeli Air Force strike nearby.
In October, Moscow said it had delivered S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Syria, where Israel has bombed Iranian targets.
"The president of Russia stressed the importance of ensuring stability in the region," the Kremlin said in its own statement.
