The Israelis have announced that they have found and neutralized a fourth tunnel built by Iran and Hezbollah under the border between Lebanon and Israel. These tunnels are the subject of a major ongoing Israeli operation to take them out. We don't know yet just how many of them exist.
Consider the purpose of these tunnels. Iran and Hezbollah wanted a way to send Hezbollah fighters into Israel while evading the Israeli troops who guard the border. Infiltrating a few hundred fighters behind the Israeli troops would not let Hezbollah defeat the Israelis. The infiltrators couldn't bring the sorts of weapons needed for any possibility of success in a fight with the Israeli army. No, the only use of the troops infiltrated through the tunnels would have been to attack Israeli civilians in nearby towns, farms and villages in the hopes of spread death and chaos in terror attacks. The tunnels are weapons of terror, not war.
By finding the tunnels and destroying them, Israel is taking from Iran and Hezbollah a major and costly weapon. There is no doubt that Iran spent tens of millions of dollars to finance the secret construction of these underground structures which are up to 1.5 miles in length and have lights and ventilation systems. All that effort has now turned into nothing more than another failure.
The main concern right now is whether or not the Israelis can find and destroy all the other tunnels that may be out there. At first, there was also concern that once the first tunnel was found, the Iranians would send the Hezbollah fighters into attack mode so as not to lose all the benefit from the other tunnels that were still there. Clearly, the Iranians and/or Hezbollah did not have the stomach to launch another battle now. Hezbollah has already lost about 25% of its fighters in battles in the Syrian civil war. Starting a major confrontation with Israel was likely something the Hezbollah leadership felt might lead to the destruction of their terror gang.
Consider the purpose of these tunnels. Iran and Hezbollah wanted a way to send Hezbollah fighters into Israel while evading the Israeli troops who guard the border. Infiltrating a few hundred fighters behind the Israeli troops would not let Hezbollah defeat the Israelis. The infiltrators couldn't bring the sorts of weapons needed for any possibility of success in a fight with the Israeli army. No, the only use of the troops infiltrated through the tunnels would have been to attack Israeli civilians in nearby towns, farms and villages in the hopes of spread death and chaos in terror attacks. The tunnels are weapons of terror, not war.
By finding the tunnels and destroying them, Israel is taking from Iran and Hezbollah a major and costly weapon. There is no doubt that Iran spent tens of millions of dollars to finance the secret construction of these underground structures which are up to 1.5 miles in length and have lights and ventilation systems. All that effort has now turned into nothing more than another failure.
The main concern right now is whether or not the Israelis can find and destroy all the other tunnels that may be out there. At first, there was also concern that once the first tunnel was found, the Iranians would send the Hezbollah fighters into attack mode so as not to lose all the benefit from the other tunnels that were still there. Clearly, the Iranians and/or Hezbollah did not have the stomach to launch another battle now. Hezbollah has already lost about 25% of its fighters in battles in the Syrian civil war. Starting a major confrontation with Israel was likely something the Hezbollah leadership felt might lead to the destruction of their terror gang.
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