Lebanon-Israel Border Incident Tests UNIFIL-Hezbollah Ties

At dawn on Wednesday, Aug. 7, an Israeli infantry patrol crossed roughly 400 meters into Lebanese territory, in the area of Naqoura. According to preliminary reports obtained by Al-Monitor, the patrol ran over a landmine, wounding four Israeli soldiers. According to sources within Hezbollah, the party is maintaining total silence on the incident, particularly regarding the nature and substance of the material that exploded when the Israeli patrol crossed the Lebanese border. But these sources have noted that in recent months, the Israeli military has increased the frequency with which it violates the Blue Line dividing the two countries. The border is guarded by UNIFIL, the international force that was deployed to the area in accordance with UN Resolution 1701, which brought an end to the hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel in the 2006 July war.

According to these sources, the Israeli army has violated the Blue Line more than once in the recent past. Israeli forces have crossed the border roughly three times moving toward the Wazzani River. In doing so, they traverse a small distance toward one of the river's wellsprings within Lebanon on the pretext of seeking to examine the health of the river, which provides water to both Lebanese and Israeli villages.

The incident of a mine detonating on an Israeli patrol today added a new layer to the situation of quiet military tension that has prevailed on the border separating Israel and Hezbollah ever since the last war. This latest event poses a compound danger. For one, it is the first of its kind to occur after the EU decision to place Hezbollah on the terrorism list. It is well known that most of UNIFIL is composed of soldiers dispatched from EU states. This leaves the impression that the relationship between Hezbollah and UNIFIL will deteriorate in the near future, which will likely undermine UNIFIL's performance in the areas where local inhabitants profess allegiance to the party.

Immediately after the incident in Labouneh — the Lebanese town in which the Israeli patrol stumbled upon the mine or the explosive (the precise type of explosion has yet to be determined) — a joint committee comprised of members from UNIFIL and the Lebanese army undertook an examination of the scene of the explosion. This operational activity is the first that UNIFIL has undertaken in the region covered by UN Resolution 1701 since the EU decision was issued two weeks ago. It might therefore be considered the first test of how Hezbollah will behave on the ground since UNIFIL's patron states declared its military wing to be a terrorist organization.