Israel’s armed forces destroyed underground infrastructure used by the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in a village in southern Lebanon, according to a joint statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz released this Sunday (28).
The US was informed before the attack, which targeted a 200-meter-long tunnel in the town of Majdal Zoun, according to the statement.
The Israeli statement said the tunnel contained hundreds of weapons and launchers.
The attack came hours after Israel’s military said it had struck Hezbollah militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades and a rocket launcher in the Nabatieh region of southern Lebanon.
A US-mediated security agreement, signed between Lebanon and Israel on Friday (26), provides for Israel’s gradual withdrawal from some areas of southern Lebanon, in parallel with the deployment of the Lebanese army to the region. However, Israeli forces would be allowed to remain in an expanded security zone for now.
Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem described it as a surrender to Israel. He stated that the group would continue its armed resistance.
Netanyahu’s statement, released on Sunday, said the Israeli military in southern Lebanon would “continue to destroy terrorist infrastructure, eliminate threats to northern communities and protect the security of Israel’s citizens.”
More than a million Lebanese have been displaced from their homes due to the conflict, which runs parallel to the wider war involving Iran.
Hezbollah and Iran say Washington has committed to ending hostilities in Lebanon as part of a memorandum of understanding signed two weeks ago to end the wider conflict.
