Hezbollah attack tunnels into Israel are fake and “false” - PA TV
Official PA TV News, on Lebanon complaining to the UN Security Council about Israel destroying Hezbollah attack tunnels crossing under the border
Official PA TV newsreader 1: “Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Lebanese Temporary Government Gebran Bassil said that he instructed [staff] to submit a complaint against Israel at the international [UN] Security Council regarding the recurring Israeli violations.”
Official PA TV newsreader 2: “This is while the occupation forces have mobilized military reinforcements to the border with Lebanon, following their declaration of the launch of an operation that they have called ‘Northern Shield,’ which is connected to alleged tunnels along the Lebanese borders (sic., Israel has already exposed several attack tunnels dug under the border by the Hezbollah terrorist organization)… On the military level and on the ground, Lebanon is the only state that has no desert, and if you dig a tunnel in a mountainous area, it is like striking iron with iron.”
Official PA TV strategic expert Wasef Erekat: “Right.”
Newsreader 2: “In the framework of your military knowledge and experience, Mr. Erekat, how do you view this topic – that is, tunnels in the north?”
Wasef Erekat: “What is happening in the north is a propaganda campaign more than a military-security campaign, because if they find a tunnel or two, the area there is different than the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip is a sandy area. The area of southern Lebanon, and particularly the Metula region and the Galilee Panhandle, is a rocky area that requires dozens of years until they find tunnels – even if they find a tunnel or two, whoever wants to dig tunnels- It is possible that there are dozens of tunnels, but what is the value of those tunnels if there is no intention to use them? In other words, even on the Lebanese side they are maintaining quiet and calm until now because they know well the consequences of Operation [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu (i.e., Operation Northern Shield). In other words, they say that this is a Hollywood operation – propaganda exaggeration – if the Israeli interior (i.e., public) is not convinced by this operation. In my estimation, the tunnel operation is a false operation. A big headline, but there are also political implications in Netanyahu’s head, not just towards the Israeli interior. He wants to be a player in the region and wants to convey messages to the region, and is defending himself through these messages.”