Hezbollah operatives vandalize security cameras
A study released on Thursday by the Alma Research and Education Center, a non-profit dedicated to researching the security challenges on Israel’s northern borders, claimed there was a definite attempt by the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group to increase friction and bring about a regional confrontation beginning along the border with Israel. "Hezbollah will launch a direct offensive against IDF troops near the border," the report said.
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The center which is based in the Galilee says the uptick in tension began last June when Hezbollah members set up tents inside Israeli control territory, but some refer to the rocket fire from Lebanon, last April. That was the heaviest barrage of rocket fire across the border since the end of the 2006 Second Lebanon War. There are 13 locations the Iran-backed group claims were Lebanese territory that Israel was occupying.
On Wednesday, the IDF used non-lethal measures to push away Hezbollah operatives who set fire to shrubs near the border and detonated landmines. Also on Wednesday, people on the Lebanese side of the border lit fireworks and were repelled by IDF troops and by UNIFIL and Lebanese Army forces. Some managed to destroy security cameras placed near the Fatmah border crossing outside the Northern town of Metula.
Hezbollah has been attempting to disrupt efforts by the IDF to bolster its defenses along the border, and attacked heavy equipment used by the forces. The provocations by Hezbollah's operatives were filmed and posted on social media and were seen as part of the efforts to prepare for a military confrontation with Israel. A military spokesperson said that residents of the north were not in any danger from those acts of provocation.
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Fires ignited by Hezbollah operatives on the Israel-Lebanon border
(Photo: Amir Shoshani)
Local officials criticized the government for failing to respond in a more definitive way and local residents reported that they were being told by the IDF commanders that their hands were tied on orders from Jerusalem. Metula mayor David Azulai said his residents were being deserted by the government and that Israel's deterrence along its northern border was eroded.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said late on Wednesday, tents pitched by his operatives were on Lebanese land and that if Israel had a military capable of winning, it would have acted with force. "Israel knows that any action will not be accepted and our people know what they must do if Israel tries to remove the tents," he said.
Maj. Gen. Aharon Haliva said the military was observing Nasrallah's intentions. "We will do what ever is necessary to maintain calm along the border," but warned Nasrallah against miscalculating the IDF's options.