Concerns have been heightened over the eruption of a new war between Lebanon and Israel in wake of the Iranian threats to retaliate for the assassination of nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh in Tehran.
The war may have likely erupted when an infiltration attempt from Lebanon to Israel was thwarted on Saturday night.
Israeli forces caught and arrested two persons trying to infiltrate the borders into the Galilee. The two Sudanese workers were attempting to enter Israel to make a living. On Sunday, the Lebanese Army Intelligence announced that it had arrested the infiltrators, after Israeli forces sent them back into Lebanese territories.
On Saturday overnight, the Israeli army fired more than 15 flare bombs over the Al-Abbad area overlooking Houla in southern Lebanon. It also launched surveillance drones over the region. The Israeli army spokesman announced that the two suspects had been arrested and were being questioned.
Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported on Sunday that an army intelligence patrol arrested the two persons in the outskirts of the town of Mais al-Jabal in the governorate of Marjeyoun.
The operation was carried out amid an Israeli state of alert that lasted for a full 45 minutes. The residents of nearby towns were warned of the possibility of hearing the sound of light bombs and unusual movement.
The development highlighted the amount of tension following the assassination of Fakhrizadeh. The Israeli army had announced a state of alert, while the intelligence services declared a mobilization in Israeli embassies abroad, as well as Jewish institutions in various countries of the world, for fear of Iranian retaliatory attacks.
On Sunday, the chief of the Israeli army general staff, Afif Kochavi, made an inspection tour of his army forces operating in the Golan Division on the borders with Syria to assess the situation. He also spoke with commanders and soldiers about the army’s readiness for all scenarios on the borders with Syria and Lebanon, stressing that the current situation was normal, “but all developments and possibilities in the region should be followed up.”
