Israeli Drill near Fatima Gate, Troops Photograph Lebanese Army Posts

The residents of the southern border town of Kfarkila on Friday woke up to the sounds of a major deployment by Israeli vehicles and troops near the Fatima Gate on the Israeli-Lebanese border, state-run National News Agency reported.

“Vehicles took positions on the military road that is adjacent to the border fence from the town of Adaisseh up to the outskirts of the Khiyam Plain,” NNA said.

The Israeli vehicles included armored personnel carriers, jeeps, Hummers and an ambulance.

After the force stayed for more than five hours opposite the Lebanese border, troops staged a military drill in the groves and on the military road, where they simulated repelling an attempt to invade Israeli territory, NNA said.

“Some vehicles stirred dust and released heavy smoke without using live ammunition,” the agency added, noting that the exercise involved provocations against Lebanon.

“A number of Israeli troops climbed the seven-meter cement wall and took pictures of a Lebanese army post near the border gate, which prompted Lebanese army units to go on alert and stage patrols,” NNA reported.

Vehicles belonging to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) also deployed in the area “in a bid to contain any repercussions from the Israeli provocations,” the agency said.

It added that the Israeli army was also conducting limited live-ammunition drills in the vicinity of its military posts along the Lebanese border up to the occupied Shebaa Farms.