The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday began installing a series of underground sensors along the northern border in order to detect any new subterranean tunnels entering Israeli territory from Lebanon. The effort comes a year after the military discovered and destroyed six such passages dug by the Hezbollah terror group.
IDF spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said the decision to install the sensors near Misgav Am now was not based on fresh intelligence that Hezbollah was digging a cross-border tunnel there, but was in light of the fact that the sensor technology being used had recently been declared operational, following a series of tests.
“The installation of this system is a preventative infrastructure step, it is not based on new intelligence,” the military said.
On Sunday morning, the IDF began digging the holes needed to install the detection system, which was recently deemed fully operational. The first of these sensors, which collect both acoustic and seismic data, will be installed near the community of Misgav Am in the northern Galilee. The process was expected to take several weeks, Conricus said.
The military appeared to be widely publicizing this new effort in order to prevent confusion or panic on both sides.
“This is an action that will be seen and heard both in our territory and on the Lebanese side — we want to prevent a miscalculation,” said IDF Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Hidai Zilberman.
Conricus estimated that in total the military would be operating along the border toward this effort for several months.
Conricus said in recent months the military has been performing a series of tests on the new sensor technology in order to ensure that it could be deployed.
“We now have technology available that our professional engineering officers deem ready to become operational,” he said.
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