The operation's declared goal was to locate and destroy Hezbollah tunnels[2] that cross the Blue Line from Lebanon into northern Israel.

[5] On 17 December 2018, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) acknowledged the existence of four tunnels near the Israel–Lebanon border and confirmed that two of them cross the Blue Line in violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701, which helped end the 2006 Lebanon War.

Senior officers in the IDF Combat Engineering Corps realized that the hard, rocky terrain of northern Israel, as opposed to the soft, sandy terrain of the area where Hamas tunnels were dug in the south, would pose a challenge that the IDF was not accustomed to.

It was feared that Hezbollah might attempt to utilize them and launch a kidnap operation if it discovered that Israel knew about the tunnels.

[10] During the first day of the operation, on 4 December, the IDF said it had uncovered a tunnel near the Israeli town of Metula[3] with an estimated length of 200 metres (220 yd)[3] that "extended more than 40 yards (37 m)" into Israel.

[19] On 17 December 2018, IDF troops placed rolls of concertina wire on the Israeli side of the Blue Line.

[6] On 19 December 2018, in a special session of the United Nations Security Council, Israel urged the UNSC to condemn Hezbollah and designate it as a terrorist organization.

Jean-Pierre Lacroix, the UN peacekeeping chief, said UNFIL confirmed four tunnels including two that cross into Israel, a "serious violation" of the 2006 ceasefire resolution (1701).

The IDF announced that this was the final tunnel, but that it was monitoring other areas along the border where Hezbollah was digging underground infrastructure that had yet to cross into Israel.