Netanyahu's Conversation with UN Secretary-General about Hezbollah Tunnels on Israel's Border

Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, on Wednesday, December 5, held a phone conversation with Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, calling for international condemnation of Hezbollah's actions in digging tunnels at the border of Lebanon. The Israeli Prime Minister's office stated that Netanyahu provided a report on the 'infiltration tunnels' dug by Hezbollah at Israel's northern border to Guterres. According to this statement, Netanyahu described these tunnels as a clear and blatant violation of Israel's sovereignty. He also emphasized that these tunnels violate UN Security Council Resolution 1701 issued in 2006 to end the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Netanyahu's office stated that he also stressed that the dug tunnels are part of Iran's aggressive actions in the region. Netanyahu urged the UN Secretary-General to condemn Hezbollah's actions. The report indicates that the Israeli Prime Minister told the UN Secretary-General that the international community should support calls for increasing sanctions against Hezbollah due to this action. The Israeli army announced the day before that it had launched a large-scale operation named 'Northern Shield' to discover and destroy the 'infiltration tunnels' dug by Hezbollah at Israel's northern border. The Israeli army claims to have gathered sufficient information about the tunnels that Hezbollah has dug over the years from southern Lebanon to use for 'terrorist' and 'infiltration' operations against Israel and had been preparing to destroy them for some time. According to an army spokesperson, these 'tunnels' have not been 'operational' so far but need to be destroyed 'before they become a threat.' The Israeli army emphasized that the operations are conducted along the 'Blue Line' border within Israeli territory and not in Lebanese territory; the 'Blue Line' is the recognized border between Israel and Lebanon as determined by the United Nations. Colonel Ronen Manlis, an Israeli military spokesperson, reported the discovery of a tunnel, 40 meters of which was in Israeli territory, in the early hours of this operation.