The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced Tuesday they would launch "operation northern shield" on Israel's northern border after finding several cross-border tunnels allegedly constructed by Hezbollah.

Head of the international media branch at the IDF's spokesperson's unit Lt. Col. Jonathan Conricus told reporters during a phone briefing that this is "the first stage of the operation," in which the aim is "to expose and thwart cross border attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah."

Conricus said Israeli forces up north have been put on "heightened alert" but no reserve forces have been called up, and the area around the northern Israeli city of Metula, which is next to the Lebanese border, has been declared a closed military zone.