In an article published on Wednesday for the 16th anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the Lebanese paper Al-Safir detailed the deployment of the Hezbollah terrorist organization on the border - and revealed the Iran-proxy is digging tunnels into Israel.
The article, which was translated and exposed by MEMRI (Middle East Media Research Institute), also discusses Hezbollah's activities in Syria where it is propping up Bashar al-Assad's regime, and it defined the Syrian front as a larger challenge than the fight with Israel, due to the terrorist group's losses there and the damage to its operational abilities.
The Lebanese daily, which is considered supportive of Hezbollah, talks about how the group - even as it fights in Syria - is continuing to prepare against Israel.
Terrorists of the organization work day and night on the Israeli border "conducting observations, preparing, and digging tunnels that cause the settlers and enemy soldiers to lose sleep," according to the report.
Al-Safir mentioned the tunnels again, noting that in fighting the Syrian rebel forces Hezbollah was forced to deal with an enemy that dug tunnels as well, and that up until this point the group was used to its members being the only ones diggin tunnels. It also described that Hezbollah had taught the methods of tunnel digging to the rest of the "resistance fighters," particularly Palestinian groups in Gaza.
For well over a year Israelis on the northern border have warned that Hezbollah is digging attack tunnels under the border, and they have even documented the sounds of digging and warned about the vibrations that shake their homes.
The IDF has largely played down the threat even as it has at times ordered investigations; outgoing Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon infamously claimed that one case of tunnel digging sounds was a neighbor's "horse stomping with his hooves."
Al-Safir's revelations on the tunnel program echo the warnings of Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Langotzki, a leading expert in the fight against the terror tunnels, who recently told Arutz Sheva that the Lebanese border is becoming a growing threat.
He warned that the northern border is no less of a threat in terms of terror tunnels than the Gaza border, where Hamas has used its tunnels to lethal effect and is working to rebuild its network.
When asked if the harder ground in the north and the distances there do not change things regarding the tunnels, Langotzki said that while there is a difference one must merely look at the incredibly long tunnels dug by the North Korean regime to enable attacks on its southern neighbor in order to understand the very real nature of the threat.
He pointed out the North Korean tunnels were dug through granite which is harder than the dolomite on the Lebanese border, and noted on the close ties between North Korea and Hezbollah.
"I have argued for ten years that it is not possible that something like this couldn't happen in our territory. If they just dig one meter every day you can reach a total of 1,000 meters in our territory within three years," warned Langotzki.
"We know that the Lebanese know how to dig tunnels from the two wars in Lebanon," he said. "Look on Google how Hezbollah dug tunnels from Lebanon to Syria. It's the most trivial thing that could be, but in order to calm the residents they said there are no tunnels, so they calmed them."