Israeli settlers fear Hizballah tunnels

HAIFA: Fearful of Hizballah tunnels which may or may not lie beneath their homes, Israelis living close to the Lebanese border have resorted to hiring private contractors to search for suspected subterranean networks. Suspicions arose when residents claimed to have heard sounds underneath their homes at night. An electronic device suggested the sounds may have come from machinery used for tunneling, although any such evidence is yet to be presented to the public.

An Israeli TV channel revealed that the contractors had been paid for by residents themselves, as the Israeli army had “neglected the matter and did not take serious steps to discover the alleged tunnels”, one resident claimed.

Many spent the Jewish New Year holidays away from their homes, fearing that Hizballah could use any suspected tunnels to launch attacks. An Israeli army spokesperson said that previous examinations carried out by military experts had shown there were no tunnels in the area, but the hunt for suspected tunnels will continue.


This article is an edited translation from our Arabic edition.