Israeli troops discovered the sixth and final tunnel dug by Hezbollah militants for cross-border attacks, the military announced Sunday, saying it was wrapping up its operation along the Lebanese border. The final tunnel was the largest one discovered so far, running hundreds of meters (yards) from under a Lebanese home and deep into Israeli territory, military spokesman Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus said. Israel launched the “Operation Northern Shield” early last month to detect and destroy what it called a vast network of Hezbollah tunnels aimed for militants to sneak across the border and carry out attacks. Conricus said the latest tunnel originated from the Lebanese border town of Ramyeh. It was 55 meters deep and ran 800 meters inside Lebanese territory and also “dozens” of meters into Israel, he said. It included stairs, a rail system and a wide a passageway that allowed for the movement of equipment and a large number of forces. The tunnel would be destroyed in the coming days, Conricus said, adding that while more tunnels still existed on the Lebanese side of the border, this effectively marked the end of the ambitious military operation. “We have achieved the goal that we set out to achieve a month and a half ago,” he said. “According to our intelligence, there are no longer any cross-border attack tunnels into Israel.” Published in Daily Times, January 14th 2019.