Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday warned Hezbollah against targeting Israel's counter-tunnel operations near the Lebanese border, saying that the Shiite terrorist group would risk an Israeli retaliation "it cannot even imagine."
A third terror tunnel was discovered snaking under the Israel-Lebanon security fence on Tuesday. The underground passageway was detected as part of Operation Northern Shield, seeking to neutralize Hezbollah's cross-border tunnels.
The IDF did not disclose where the tunnel was found, saying only that it was no longer a threat.
The military further said it has rigged the tunnel with explosives and warned Hezbollah and the Lebanese army against approaching it from their side of the border.
Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot visited the Northern Command on Tuesday, where they were briefed by GOC Northern Command Maj. Gen. Yoel Strick on the progress made since the counter-tunnel operation was launched last week.
Netanyahu said Israel was "methodically dismantling Hezbollah's tunnel weapon," and warned the terrorist group not to re-establish the front.
"If Hezbollah makes the serious mistake of deciding in any way to attack us or target the [counter-tunnel] operation we have undertaken, it will be hit in a way it cannot even imagine," he stated
The Shiite terrorist group, he said, "Thought they could dig tunnels uninterrupted. We knew about it and we planned this operation carefully. We're carrying out exactly what we planned, but we're also ready for anything. There is considerable firepower here and we are ready for any scenario," he said, referring to the military deployment near the border.
Netanyahu said an Israeli military delegation is heading to Russia to explain the border operation.
"It will make it unequivocally clear that Israel maintains its right and obligation to act against an Iranian military entrenchment in Syria, Hezbollah's entrenchment in Syria and that of Iran's proxies here, in their attempt to dig tunnels under the border," Netanyahu said.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has confirmed the IDF's findings.
UNIFIL chief Maj. Stefano Del Col issued a statement on Tuesday saying, "This is a serious matter and UNIFIL is working … to ensure that all related facts are objectively determined and diligently addressed in line with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701."
De Col said the inspection of tunnels was a "work in progress" and vowed that UNIFIL will "make every effort to maintain clear and credible channels of communication with both sides so that there is no room for misunderstanding on this sensitive matter."
