Mayor of northern town of Metulla, at center of operation, says only disruptions are for some farmers, though IDF remains on alert for possible Hezbollah response

This picture taken on December 4, 2018 near the northern Israeli town of Metula, shows Israeli soldiers standing outside a military vehicle near the border with Lebanon. (JALAA MAREY / AFP)
This picture taken on December 4, 2018 near the northern Israeli town of Metula, shows Israeli soldiers standing outside a military vehicle near the border with Lebanon. (JALAA MAREY / AFP)

 

Israelis residing near the border with Lebanon said they were trying to maintain a sense of normalcy Tuesday morning, as Israeli forces announced the launch of a major operation to destroy cross-border tunnels and declared the area around one town a closed military zone.

Even as security officials addressed concerns that the Hezbollah terror group may try to respond to the operation with a cross-border attack, authorities in the north counseled residents to continue going about their day-to-day lives.

David Azoulay, the mayor of Metulla, a border town of some 1,600 people that sits within the declared military zone, said that life was continuing as usual and that the only change was that some farmers with lands close to the frontier were told not to work in their orchards, the Ynet news website reported.

“The kindergartens, daycare for school children, Canada Center [ice-skating ring], everything is operating as usual,” Azoulay said. “The [IDF] northern commander updated me in the night; the operation began before dawn. I am in constant communication with the residents and we will put out updates every hour.”

The Metulla regional council opened a situation room but noted it is not fully manned at the moment. All of the room’s staff have been updated about the situation and are on standby if needed, Ynet said.

Asher Greenberg, a farmer from Metulla, told Army Radio that he was harvesting apples from his orchards without concern and speculated that neither Hezbollah nor the Iranians “are looking for trouble.”

Menachem Horowitz, a popular consumer affairs journalist who lives in the northern city of Kiryat Shmona, also said life was continuing as normal.

“Nothing is happening on Lebanese soil, northerners can continue to go about their completely peaceful lives,” he told Army Radio.

Israeli soldiers standing by excavation machinery near the border wall with Lebanon in the area of Metulla, December 4, 2018.(JALAA MAREY/AFP)
Israeli soldiers standing by excavation machinery near the border wall with Lebanon in the area of Metulla, December 4, 2018.(JALAA MAREY/AFP)

 

The army said the operation was restricted to Israeli territory for now, but was expected to expand in coming days, hinting that soldiers may cross the fence separating Israel from Lebanon.

Israeli security chiefs were holding security assessments throughout the day in order to predict Hezbollah’s reaction to the IDF operation, but most analysts saw the chances of the operation sparking a major escalation in violence as slim.

Additional troops were deployed to northern Israel as a precaution against potential attacks by Hezbollah, but no reservists were called up.

Nonetheless, Yossi Kuperwasser, a former head of the research division of IDF Military Intelligence, said there is “potential for escalation and Israel therefore has to operate with alertness.”

According to a statement issued by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, where he is now a senior researcher, Tuesday’s operation is the first time that Hezbollah “is being humiliated by the IDF.” Therefore, Kuperwasser said, “even though the organization is not reacting at the moment, it is important to remain alert.”

The operation was launched after years of complaints from local residents that Hezbollah, a Lebanese terror group backed by Iran, could be digging tunnels under the border, though the army largely dismissed the fears.

“For years I warned that there are tunnels at the northern border and it was well known, and I really am not surprised,” Gadi Shabtai from Kibbutz Rosh Hanikra told the Walla news website. “It is clear to me that over the years, they [the IDF] tried to hide the matter, in order to not sow fear and terror among the residents along the northern confrontation line. We warned a long time ago that tunnels dug over the years reach the border and all that remained to do was to dig the last few meters and cross” the border defenses.

“We aren’t surprised,” said Sivan Yechiel, a local community organizer. “Our residents were very concerned about the matter, and remain concerned.”

The IDF refused to say Tuesday how many tunnels there are or how far they reach into Israel. A government official said the operation was expected to take weeks.

Azoulay, the mayor of Metulla, was a former officer in the IDF’s northern command engineering units. In the past he had claimed there were no tunnels due to the difficulty of digging through the rocky terrain, the Ynet report said.

A file photo taken on September 5, 2018 near the Rosh Hanikra border crossing in northern Israel, shows tractors along a new wall on the Israeli-Lebanese border. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)
A file photo taken on September 5, 2018 near the Rosh Hanikra border crossing in northern Israel, shows tractors along a new wall on the Israeli-Lebanese border. (JACK GUEZ / AFP)

 

“Today also, I say again, the land here is very difficult to dig,” Azoulay said. “In the places where they looked during my time they didn’t find tunnels, and I am happy that now that they have found them they are neutralizing the threat.”

The Israel-Lebanon border has remained largely calm since a 2006 war between the IDF and Hezbollah that saw thousands of rockets pummel northern Israel.

While there have been a number of border flareups since then, they have almost all targeted Israeli soldiers operating near the fence and have been quickly contained.

In recent years, the Israeli military and Defense Ministry have been bolstering defenses along the Israeli-Lebanese border: setting up berms, clearing vegetation, creating artificial cliffs and building nine-meter-tall concrete walls.

The barriers are designed to serve two main functions: protect Israeli civilians and soldiers from sniper attacks, and prevent infiltration into Israel by Hezbollah operatives.

According to the IDF senior officer, approximately seven years ago, Hezbollah created a special forces unit — known as the Radwan Unit — specifically tasked with crossing into Israel and causing as much mayhem and destruction as possible both for the sake of the destruction itself and for the “symbolism” of having troops carry out attacks inside Israel.

A Hezbollah poster on Israel's northern border (photo credit: Hamad Almakt/Flash 90)
A Hezbollah poster on Israel’s northern border (photo credit: Hamad Almakt/Flash 90)

 

IDF spokesperson Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said Tuesday the tunnels “are not yet operationally ready” and therefore did not pose an “immediate threat.”

“We see Hezbollah’s actions as a flagrant and blatant violation of Israeli sovereignty,” he said.

The operation came as tensions on Israel’s northern border have ramped up in recent days and hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to Brussels for a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to discuss Iran and security challenges on Israel’s northern border, likely referring to Hezbollah.

Israel has long warned that it believed Hezbollah planned to conduct cross-border raids in any future conflict, with the specific goal of attacking and conquering a civilian town near the border.

As reported by The Times of Israel