Israel Matzav

What's new on the Lebanese border

In an article discussing the situation on the Lebanese border, Yaakov Katz talks about the changes in how the IDF patrols the border since the 'kidnapping' of (the dead or dying) Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev that kicked off the Second Lebanon War three years ago on Sunday.

The IDF appears to have learned the lessons from the 2006 kidnapping. Aware that kidnapping a soldier is an attack of a "strategic nature," Brig.-Gen. Imad Fares, commander of the Galilee Division, put thwarting such an attack at the top of his list of priorities when he assumed command more than two years ago.

The changes are most apparent along the border - in the deployment of cameras, the repositioning of troops and the way border patrols are conducted. Changes have also been made in the way the top command would handle itself in the event of a kidnapping with regard to response time and the activation of the air force.

Goldwasser and Regev were part of a patrol that consisted of two Hummers. Near Moshav Zarit, each was hit with anti-tank missiles and heavy machine gun fire. Now, each patrol consists of more than two vehicles, with extra reinforced steel armor to protect against anti-tank missile attacks.

The use of larger patrols will force Hizbullah to use a larger force if it decides to try to kidnap a soldier. A larger Hizbullah force makes more noise and can more easily be detected than a smaller force.

Lt.-Col. (res.) Shlomi Felix, from Kibbutz Yaron, says he doesn't see Hizbullah along the border but believes it is still there. On a tour of the kibbutz, he points to what looks like a soccer field in Maroun A-Ras. Even though it is the middle of the day, large spotlights facing Israel are turned on. Next to the lights is a Hizbullah flag.

"We don't know what is there, but we assume the reason they have the lights on during the day is to blind the security cameras on the Israeli side," he says.

Felix then points to various buildings inside the village and claims that many of them have been built since the war.

"Dozens of homes were also built in the southern Lebanese villages before the war," he says. "What we found during the war was that the top floors of the homes were where the families lived, but the ground levels and the basements were where Hizbullah had set up its listening stations and weapons storehouses."

Read the whole thing. Unfortunately, war on our northern border is never far away.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 5:11 AM