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Middle East
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UN boosts peacekeeping on Lebanon border as Israel targets ‘attack tunnels’

  • Israeli bulldozers and drills were seen churning up earth near the border wall in what Tel Aviv is calling ‘Operation Northern Shield’
  • The Shiite group made extensive use of a network of tunnels in 2006 during a month-long Israel-Hezbollah war

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A Unifil armoured personnel carrier patrolling the border with Israel near the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila. Photo: AFP
Agence France-Presse

UN peacekeepers said they increased patrols on the Lebanese-Israeli border on Tuesday after Israel announced an operation against what it said were Hezbollah infiltration tunnels.

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The Israeli army said it launched an operation dubbed “Northern Shield” to destroy “attack tunnels” it accused the Lebanese militia of digging under the border.

This picture taken on Tuesday from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila shows Israeli machinery operating by the border wall in Israel. Photo: AFP
This picture taken on Tuesday from the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila shows Israeli machinery operating by the border wall in Israel. Photo: AFP

Hezbollah had not reacted and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) said it had increased patrols along the border, as Israeli bulldozers went to work.

“The overall situation in Unifil’s area of operation remains calm,” said Joumana Sayegh, a spokeswoman for the UN mission which monitors the border region. “Unifil is working with all interlocutors in order to maintain the overall stability.”

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Unifil soldiers patrol the border with Israel. Photo: AFP
Unifil soldiers patrol the border with Israel. Photo: AFP
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