Israel Carries Out Patrols near Border with Lebanon, Erects Earth Mounds

Israeli army intensified on Thursday patrols along the border with Lebanon and began erecting earth mounds in the occupied Shebaa Farms.

According to the state-run National News Agency, the Israeli army carried out patrols off al-Abbasiyeh and Ghajar, reaching all the way to Kfarshouba hills as soldiers monitored the area.

The news agency reported that at 9:00 a.m. Israeli caterpillars began establishing earth mounds and fortifying the border post of Fashkool in the occupied Shebaa farms.

On Sunday, the Israeli military fired a barrage of shells into southern Lebanon in retaliation after Katyusha-style rockets slammed into the Jewish state.

The exchange of fire hit uninhabited areas of both Israel and Lebanon without causing casualties or damage, officials on both sides said.

The Israeli government accused Hizbullah of being responsible for the rocket fire and threatened an even tougher response to any further attacks.

The U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon (UNIFIL) said two rockets fired from the el-Khiam area had struck open ground near the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona.

The Israeli army responded with 32 rounds of artillery fire directed at the area from where the rockets originated, it said.

Tension has spiked on the border between the two countries since Lebanese troops gunned down an Israeli soldier driving near the frontier on December 16.

The Lebanese army said it had found four rocket launchers.

Israel's border with Lebanon has been largely quiet since the 2006 war with Hizbullah.

The last time a soldier was killed on the frontier was in August 2010, when two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist also died.

In August, four Israeli soldiers were wounded by an explosion some 400 meters (yards) inside Lebanese territory, in a blast claimed by Hizbullah.

Earlier this month, Hizbullah said one of its top leaders was killed near Beirut and blamed Israel for his murder, a charge denied by Israel, which warned against any retaliation.

U.N. peacekeepers were deployed along the border following the 34-day war in 2006 which killed some 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.