Israel says destroyed 200m-long Hezbollah tunnel in S Lebanon

The Israeli army destroyed an extensive tunnel built by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz said Sunday.

"The tunnel, stretching more than 200 metres and reaching a depth of over 25 metres, contained hundreds of weapons as well as several launch shafts intended to target the State of Israel and its civilians," the joint statement said.

The operation came two days after Israel and Lebanon signed a framework agreement mediated by the US in Washington, aiming to pave the way for peace between the two neighbours, which have officially been at war for decades.

The deal makes any Israeli withdrawal from occupied Lebanese land conditional on Beirut disarming Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, by creating "pilot zones" that the Lebanese military will take over.

The statement by Netanyahu and Katz noted that Israel "informed the United States and the US representative in Lebanon in advance of the destruction of the infrastructure."

An AFP reporter in the coastal city of Tyre, situated about 10km or 6 miles from the location of the detonation near the village of Majdal Zoun, saw smoke rising in the distance.

He said residents in towns south of Tyre left after hearing reports in the Lebanese media that Israel might detonate nearby.