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Israeli troops located and destroyed a more than 300-foot-long underground tunnel used by Hezbollah’s Radwan forces as a terrorist hideout, the IDF said Saturday.
The Israeli military said it discovered the tunnel during operations in southern Lebanon. The IDF launched a series of strikes aimed at preventing weapons from falling into the hands of Hezbollah, which had been attacking Israel for more than a year before a ceasefire was agreed last month.
“With the help of the Yahalom unit, which investigated and cleared the tunnel route of explosives and threats, troops located rifles, machine guns, anti-tank missiles and observation systems inside the tunnel,” the IDF said in a statement.
The IDF said all weapons were seized and destroyed, along with the tunnel itself.
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An IDF soldier is photographed near anti-tank missiles belonging to the terrorist group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. (IDF)
“Stockpiles of anti-tank missiles and heavy machine gun emplacements aimed at IDF positions were also found near the tunnel,” the Israeli military added.
The IDF said the route of the underground tunnel is connected to Hezbollah command center which contained rockets used to fire at Israel during the war, “along with a large number of explosives”.
The United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) called on Israeli forces to withdraw from southern Lebanon on Thursday, claiming Israel had violated the terms of a November 27 ceasefire agreement with Iran-backed Hezbollah, Reuters reported.
Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a US-brokered 60-day ceasefire that calls for the gradual withdrawal of the Israeli military after more than a year of war, in line with a 2006 UN Security Council resolution that ended their last major conflict.
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IDF forces discovered a weapons cache that the Israeli military said belonged to the terrorist group Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. (IDF)
Under the agreement, Hezbollah fighters must abandon positions in southern Lebanon and move north of the Litani River, which flows about 20 miles north of the border with Israel, with a complete Israeli withdrawal from the south.
Statement by UNIFIL drew attention to what he said was the continued destruction of residential areas, agricultural land and infrastructure in southern Lebanon by Israeli forces.
“UNIFIL continues to call for the timely withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces and the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces (instead of Hezbollah) in southern Lebanon, along with the full implementation of Resolution 1701 as a comprehensive path to peace,” the statement said.
Israel’s military told Reuters it was considering UNIFIL’s criticism, but offered no further comment.
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The IDF said it destroyed the weapons that were in an underground tunnel in southern Lebanon. (IDF)
Under the ceasefire agreement, Israeli forces can take up to 60 days to withdraw from southern Lebanon, but neither side can launch offensive operations.
The Lebanese army told Reuters it was monitoring UNIFIL and the committee overseeing the ceasefire agreement regarding continued Israeli operations in southern Lebanon.
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UNIFIL said it would continue to monitor the area south of the Litani River to ensure it was clear of armed personnel and weapons, other than those belonging to the Lebanese government and UNIFIL.
Reuters contributed to this report.
