Israeli military chief, UN commander in Lebanon talk tunnels

JERUSALEM – Israel’s military chief has met with the head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon to discuss the discovery of a series of tunnels Israel says was built by Hezbollah to carry out attacks.

Last week, Israel began an open-ended operation to destroy the tunnels.

The Israeli military says that during Sunday’s meeting, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot told UNIFIL’s commander, Maj. Gen. Stefano Del Col, that the tunnels are a “blatant violation” of a U.N. cease-fire resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

It says Eisenkot expressed the importance of the peacekeepers in enforcing the resolution and working to neutralize the tunnels on the Lebanese side of the border.