The IDF has launched an operation in the north of Israel, aiming “to expose and neutralise” attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah under the border with Lebanon.

Operation Northern Shield was initiated on Monday night. The IDF did not comment on how many tunnels it was seeking to destroy, but it is understood that some were dug in the vicinity of Metula, Israel’s northernmost town.

Warnings were sent in Arabic to Lebanese citizens cautioning them to stay away from areas where there are tunnels infiltrating into Israel.

A video released by the IDF stated that “Hezbollah has spent years digging cross border tunnels between Lebanon and Israel as part of their offensive plan that Hezbollah calls ‘conquering the Galilee’.”

The video included a clip from Hezbollah boasting that “’Conquering the Galilee” would involve 5,000 fighters and would see the group — whose military wing is proscribed by the UK as a terrorist organisation — “launch hundreds of rockets into Israel at a time”.

The IDF said this was exactly what UN Resolution 1701, which was adopted in the wake of the last war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006, is supposed to prevent.

The Lebanese army was placed on high alert in response to the launch of the operation.

But Israeli residents in the north of the country have not been given any specific safety instructions, and no reservists have been called up.

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Conricus, head of the IDF’s International Media Branch, said that the operation would continue “until all threats against our civilians are mitigated.”