He told French broadcasters CNews and Europe 1 that had the plan succeeded such an assault would be been more damaging than the Oct 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel.

“A hundred metres, two hundred metres from the border we found tunnels, tunnels that were preparing an invasion of Israel, an attack even greater than on Oct 7,” Netanyahu said, according to a simultaneous translation provided by the networks.

“With jeeps, with motorbikes, with rockets, with missiles. They were planning an invasion.”

Netanyahu had told French daily Le Figaro earlier this month that the Israeli army found Russian cutting-edge military hardware in Hezbollah arms caches.

Since Israel last month escalated its bombing in Lebanon before sending ground troops across the frontier, the war has killed at least 1,552 people, according to an AFP tally of Lebanese health ministry figures, though the real toll is likely higher.