Three Lebanese flee back across the border after IDF soldiers fired in the air.
By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel
Three apparently drunk teens from Lebanon were arrested by Lebanese police after unsuccessfully trying to sneak over the border into Israel, the Lebanese army reported Tuesday.
“On 12/29/2020, at approximately 17:00, a patrol from the Intelligence Directorate stopped three young men as they approached the technical fence in the Sahl al-Khiam area while they were apparently drunk,” the Lebanese Army tweeted.
On the Israeli side of the heavily defended international border, the IDF spokesperson’s office issued a statement saying that IDF spotters who monitor the border spotted suspects approaching the border fence, apparently near the town of Metula, which sits right on the border.
“One of the suspects climbed the fence, crossed several meters into Israeli territory and returned to Lebanon shortly after,” the IDF statement said. “IDF forces that arrived in the area immediately identified the suspects in Lebanese territory after crossing back and carried out a suspicious arrest procedure that included firing into the air.”
“The IDF observed the suspects throughout the incident. IDF forces combed the area and confirmed no further intrusions.”
Lebanese news website The961 reported that an investigation into the incident was opened and “the suspects were referred to a relevant judiciary in Lebanon.”
Lebanon is home to Iranian-backed terror forces that use its territory as a staging ground for attacks against Israel.
Hezbollah is in de facto control of southern Lebanon, where the incident occurred and has repeatedly launched cross-border attacks, sparking the war in 2006 when Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets at Israeli towns and cities as a cover to kidnap IDF soldiers who subsequently died in Hezbollah captivity.
Hezbollah refuses to comply with UN Security Council Resolution 1701 passed after the 2006 war, which demands “the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that … there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese state.”
In 2018, the United Nations confirmed that several military attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah into Israel were both illegal and violated Security Council resolution 1701. The IDF subsequently destroyed all the tunnels.
There have been several attempts this year by Sudanese laborers in Lebanon to cross the border into Israel, where it is known that working and living conditions are much better than in Arab countries. In all cases, the infiltrators were returned to Lebanon.