Israel Says Tunnel Details It Gave UN Ended Up With Hezbollah

(Bloomberg) -- Israel said information about a tunnel that it shared with the United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon was passed on to Hezbollah, which used the knowledge to foil efforts to detect the secret passageway.

Israel gave the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, the peacekeepers assigned to ensure security along the Israel-Lebanese border, “precise information about the location of the tunnel,” Danny Danon, Israel’s UN ambassador, said Wednesday at a Security Council meeting.

“Sources within the Lebanese army informed Hezbollah about the information, which enabled the terrorist organization to conceal the tunnel’s operations and thwart Israel’s defensive actions,” Danon said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced this month that Israel was starting an operation to destroy underground tunnels that Hezbollah militants dug to infiltrate Israel from Lebanon.

To contact the reporter on this story: David Wainer in New York at dwainer3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Bill Faries at wfaries@bloomberg.net, Larry Liebert

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