JERUSALEM, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) -- Israeli army has begun the process of destructing cross-border tunnels that were allegedly dug by the Lebanese Hezbollah militia to infiltrate into Israel's northern border, a military spokesperson said on Friday.
At the beginning of December, Israel announced that it had uncovered a network of tunnels dug by the militants of Hezbollah originating from Lebanon into Israeli territory.
Four such tunnels have been exposed and the process of "neutralizing" them started on Thursday evening, Jonathan Conricus, head of the International Media Branch at the Israel Defense Forces Spokesperson Unit, said in a brief to reporters.
The second stage of the operation will take place simultaneously to the continued effort to expose further tunnels, Conricus said.
Technological means are employed in the process, he added.
Since 2006, when Israel and Hezbollah fought their last war, the border area has been tense but largely calm. Tensions have risen in recent weeks and Israeli forces have been put on elevated alert since the army began the Northern Shield operation to "locate and thwart" these tunnels.
On Wednesday, the United Nations (UN) Security Council convened a meeting to discuss the matter. The UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon confirmed the existence of the tunnels and voiced concern about their destabilizing nature, but the meeting ended without a UN condemnation which Israel had sought.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters on Wednesday that the tunnels were "an act of war."
Netanyahu has been critical of the UN mission's lackluster response to the tunnels.
