Israel steps up surveillance on Lebanese border


AFP
 Date: 11-04-05

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli troops were on heightened alert on the Lebanese border, stepping up patrols amid fears of attacks from the militia loyal to Shiite movement Hezbollah.

Surveillance has been increased along the international border and the ceasefire line in the disputed Shebaa Farms area, where the Lebanese, Israeli and Syria borders converge.

The army believes there is a heightened risk of attempts to kidnap soldiers or fire against its positions, the source said Friday.

Travel without approval has been prohibited. Soldiers whose service is not essential to the area have been sent home, public radio said.

A senior military official warned Friday that Israel would hold Lebanon responsible for any deterioration on the border.

On Thursday, Lebanese police said Israeli troops and Hezbollah militiamen had traded fire across the border, but Israel flatly denied the report.

A Hezbollah official also denied his organisation had engaged in any "military operation in this sector".

Israel captured the small mountainous Shebaa Farms from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and is now claimed by Lebanon with Damascus's approval.

Hezbollah was largely responsible for driving Israeli troops from southern Lebanon in 2000 after a 22-year occupation.

A UN resolution passed last year calls for all militias in Lebanon to be disarmed in order to ensure national sovereignty.

Source

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