Operation Northern Shield

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As operation Northern shield ( Hebrew מבצע מגן צפוני, Mivtza stomach Tzfoni ; English operation Northern Shield) is a military operation of the IDF on the northern border of Israel to Lebanon , respectively. The aim of the operation was to locate and then destroy tunnels that were built by the Lebanese militia Hezbollah and reached underground into Israeli territory. The operation began on December 4, 2018 and officially ended on January 13, 2019. There was no fighting between the two conflicting parties.

background

The Israeli army started its first efforts in 2013 to track down Hezbollah tunnels in northern Israel after residents of the border region with Lebanon reported that they had heard noises they attributed to underground excavations. However, it was not possible to find tunnels. After an extensive tunnel system played a key role during Operation Protective Edge , a military operation against Hamas in the Gaza Strip , the search for tunnels in northern Israel was resumed. A unit was created within the northern command , which was to deal specifically with the detection of underground tunnels. According to the military, seismic sensors and radar systems were used to detect them . Concrete plans to carry out an operation to destroy the tunnels began in secret about two and a half years in advance. In order to deal with the difficult terrain on the border with Lebanon, a group of soldiers was sent to Europe for training with experts.

course

On December 4, the first day of the operation, the army announced the discovery of a first 200-meter-long tunnel extending from a house in the Lebanese village of Kfar Kila to Israeli territory west of Metulla . Over 36 meters of the tunnel are on the Israeli side of the border, the army said. Upon discovering this tunnel, the army installed a camera inside the tunnel, which recorded two suspected Hezbollah members as they were in the tunnel. The army identified one of the men, Dr. Imad "Azaladin" Fahs , the commander of a Hezbollah unit responsible for the tunnels. Hezbollah itself stated that the two men were simply drug smugglers and not members of their organization.

On December 6, UNIFIL , a United Nations observer mission in Lebanon, confirmed the existence of the first tunnel. On the same day, the Israeli army announced the discovery of a second tunnel and called on UNIFIL, the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army to participate in the destruction of the tunnels on the Lebanese side of the border.

Five days later, on December 11th, UNIFIL confirmed the existence of the second tunnel. At the same time, the IDF announced the discovery of a third tunnel, which it had booby- trapped. The discovery of a fourth tunnel, which had also been equipped with explosives, was announced on December 16.

On December 17, UNIFIL confirmed the existence of a total of four tunnels near the border, two of which cross the border into Israel. She interpreted the violation of the border as a violation of UN resolution 1701 .

On December 25, the army made the discovery of a fifth tunnel public, which had already been destroyed with explosives.

On January 13, 2019, the Israeli army found a sixth tunnel, which it described as the "deepest, longest and most sophisticated tunnel." The tunnel begins in the Lebanese village of Ramyeh, which is 800 meters from the border, and is around one kilometer long. It includes, among other things, a lighting system, electricity, stairs and small train tracks. With the discovery of the sixth tunnel, Operation Northern Shield was declared over. However, this last tunnel was not destroyed until the end of May 2019.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Judah Ari Gross: IDF releases seismic audio of Hezbollah digging into Israel. Retrieved May 29, 2019 (American English).
  2. ↑ Israeli soldiers trained to destroy Hezbollah tunnels on European soil. Retrieved May 29, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Andrew Carey, Oren Liebermann, Ben Wedeman and Michael Schwartz CNN: Israel begins operation to 'expose and thwart' Hezbollah tunnels. Retrieved May 29, 2019 .
  4. ^ Israel announces operation to destroy Hezbollah tunnels under its northern border. In: Washington Post . December 4, 2018, accessed May 29, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Identity of Hezbollah member caught in tunnel footage is exposed - Arab-Israeli Conflict - Jerusalem Post. Retrieved May 29, 2019 .
  6. ↑ Un-peacekeepers confirm israeli repoert of tunnel at lebanon border. Retrieved May 29, 2019 .
  7. ↑ IDF Reveals It Found Another Hezbollah Tunnel Crossing Into Israel, Asks UN to Help Destroy It . In: Haaretz . December 6, 2018 ( Haaretz.com [accessed May 29, 2019]).
  8. ↑ Israel tells Lebanon and UN peacekeepers to destroy attack tunnel . In: Reuters . December 6, 2018 ( reuters.com [accessed May 29, 2019]).
  9. ^ UN Peacekeepers Confirm Second Tunnel at Lebanon-Israel Border. Retrieved May 30, 2019 .
  10. ↑ Yaniv Kubovich, Noa Landau: Israel Says It Discovered Third Cross-border Hezbollah tunnels . In: Haaretz . December 11, 2018 ( Haaretz.com [accessed May 29, 2019]).
  11. ^ Israeli Army Says Fourth Hezbollah Attack Tunnel Found Crossing From Lebanon . In: Haaretz . December 16, 2018 ( Haaretz.com [accessed May 29, 2019]).
  12. ↑ UN mission in Lebanon confirms Hezbollah tunnels crossed Israel border - Arab-Israeli Conflict - Jerusalem Post. Retrieved May 29, 2019 .
  13. ^ TOI staff: Army finds, destroys fifth attack tunnel from Lebanon. Retrieved May 29, 2019 (American English).
  14. ↑ IDF declares end of Operation Northern Shield with finding of 6th tunnel. January 13, 2019, accessed May 29, 2019 .
  15. ^ IDF destroying Hezbollah's last, largest cross-border attack tunnel - Middle East - Jerusalem Post. Retrieved May 29, 2019 .