A few miles from Syria, at 1,750 meters (1 mile) above sea level, the Lebanese Armed Forces are building new observation towers at the northeastern border. A 10-meter-high (33-foot) radar will be installed soon above the dozen soldiers busy building new offices and dormitories.

“These radars helped us detect IS [Islamic State] movements before we fought them last summer,” Lt. Col. Mohammad Abbas, from the 2nd Land Border Regiment, told Al-Monitor. In August, a military offensive resulted in a deal under which hundreds of rebels returned to Syria. According to Abbas, the nine observation towers and the three radars were donated in the past two years by the United Kingdom and the United States, respectively.

On March 15, top Lebanese officials, including Prime Minister Saad Hariri, convened in Rome along with representatives of 40 countries to convince the world that Lebanon's military needs more help. According to Reuters, “The European Union pledged 50 million euros ($61 million), and Hariri said France had created a 400 million euro ($492 million) credit facility to purchase 'equipment' for Lebanon’s military and security forces. The UK has pledged an additional $13 million, it said on Twitter.” Nevertheless, Lebanese President Michel Aoun said March 12 that the national defense strategy would only be discussed in detail after the legislative elections scheduled for May.

Lebanese authorities argue that supporting their army is vital to maintaining the country’s sovereignty and stability. “When we fight [IS] at our border, we do it for the entire international community,” Gen. Maroun Hitti, Hariri’s defense and security adviser, told Al-Monitor in an interview in mid-February. Weakened by the Lebanese civil war (1975-1990), the Lebanese Armed Forces have been slowly increasing their capabilities since the withdrawal of the Syrian Arab Armed Forces in 2005.