The Israeli military has begun building a wall along part of its border with Lebanon to avoid what it called ”frictions” in the area.
According to Israeli sources, the cement wall would be several meters high and intended to protect the recently-constructed settler units in the Israeli border town of Metulla from fire coming from the Lebanese side.
It is expected to take several weeks to build the wall, which would be more than 1km long. An Israeli security fence already runs along the entire border.
“This construction, which began on Monday, is being carried out in coordination with UNIFIL (the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) and the Lebanese army. The wall is intended to avoid frictions on the border,” an Israeli military spokeswoman said.
The Lebanese Army and UNIFIL troops, responsible for coordinating security along the Lebanese border, maintained a heavy presence in the area as the Israeli military started the project. Israel and Lebanon are technically in state of war.
The Israeli military invaded Lebanon in July 2006 with the intention of eliminating the resistance movement, Hezbollah.
The invasion, also known as the 33-Day War, took the lives of at least 1,200 Lebanese most of them civilians.
Hezbollah, however, inflicted heavy losses on Israeli forces and Tel Aviv faced a humiliating defeat without having achieved any of its objectives.
——Agencies