Lebanon: Israeli operation against tunnels won’t affect calm

Lebanon’s president says Israel’s operation to destroy Hezbollah attack tunnels across the border won’t endanger the calm along the frontier.

Michel Aoun, a Hezbollah ally, says Lebanon takes the tunnels issue “seriously” and is prepared to “take measures to remove causes of disagreement” after a full report on the situation.

Aoun says the United States has informed Lebanon that Israel has “no aggressive intentions,” adding that his country too has “no aggressive intentions.”

Israel launched an operation to destroy a series of tunnels last week, showing one to UN peacekeepers and calling it a violation of the ceasefire that ended the 2006 war with Hezbollah.

Aoun spoke alongside Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen, who plans to visit Austrian peacekeepers in the south.

— AP