“The tunnel, which took Hezbollah several years to dig, also contained railroads to transport equipment and garbage, and was equipped with lighting equipment, air-conditioning and ladders.”

In early December 2018, Israel launched “Operation Northern Shield,” the effort to locate and destroy Hezbollah cross-border tunnels along the Lebanese border in northern Israel.

There were many dramatic videos of the operation, including that moment when Hezbollah operatives on the Lebanese side came face-to-face with an Israeli surveillance camera inserted into one of the tunnels:

I also quite enjoyed watching Hezbollah operatives on the Lebanese end of a tunnel scramble from concrete slurry Israel pumped into the tunnel. It reminded me of the 1950’s movie The Blob:

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That 6th and largest tunnel was quite sophisticated and long, dug through solid rock as we reported at the time:

This placed the tunnel opening close to Israeli communities:

The IDF just destroyed the tunnel in dramatic fashion, with plenty of media coverage. The Jerusalem Post reporter Anna Ahronheim was given access to the tunnel, and reported:

Six months after the Israeli military declared an end to Operation Northern Shield, the IDF has begun destroying the final and largest cross-border tunnel dug by Hezbollah into Israeli territory. The tunnel began in the Lebanese village of Ramiyeh and stretched one kilometer before infiltrating several meters into northern Israel, close to the communities of Zarit and Shtula…. Unlike the tunnels dug by terrorist groups in the Gaza Strip, each one found by the military on the Lebanese border had different characteristics, with some strengthened by concrete while others were burrowed straight into the rock. The Ramiyeh tunnel had been dug at a depth of 80 meters and had 20 flights of stairs. The tunnel, which took Hezbollah several years to dig, also contained railroads to transport equipment and garbage, and was equipped with lighting equipment, air-conditioning and ladders. It will be filled with liquid concrete to remove the threat and prevent Hezbollah terrorists from using it.

Ahronheim posted some video and photos of her tunnel visit:

I’m claustrophobic as hell, but this tunnel was a lot more “comfortable” than the Palestinian Islamic Jihad tunnel I visited last year. It took #Hezbollah several years of digging & they had air conditioning & lighting for those working deep under ground. pic.twitter.com/7JCLYTaL6x — Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) May 29, 2019

Another video of the cross-border attack tunnel built by #Hezbollah. The #IDF will be destroying it over the coming days to prevent militants from ever using it against #Israel. pic.twitter.com/Jz4gqaldc5 — Anna Ahronheim (@AAhronheim) May 29, 2019

The IDF released this video:

The IDF also has a sense of humor, putting a Mezuzah on the tunnel entrance:



