Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group has said it started destroying surveillance cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border as tension rose following the Israeli offensive in response to the Hamas operation on October 7.
Hezbollah’s military media arm released a video on Monday showing snipers shooting at and destroying surveillance cameras placed on five points along the Lebanon-Israel border including one outside the Israeli town of Metula.
The armed group appears to want to prevent the Israeli army from monitoring movements on the Lebanese side of the border after days of fire exchange that left at least seven people dead, including four Hezbollah militants and a Reuters journalist, on the Lebanese side.
There are concerns that the powerful Hezbollah could join the war with Israel and earlier this month, US President Joe Biden warned other players in the Middle East not to join the conflict and has sent American warships to the region and vowed full support for Israel.
‘Ready for all possibilities’
Hezbollah legislator Hassan Fadlallah said on Sunday that the group is ready for all possibilities adding, “We don’t want to reveal what the next step is.”
He said Hezbollah’s next step “is tied to what is going on in Gaza.”
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna arrived in Beirut where she will meet officials to discuss border tensions.
Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said the country’s politically paralyzed government has been scrambling to ease tensions along its southern border with Israel and avoid dragging the tiny country into a new war.
Earlier on Monday, the Israeli military ordered people living in 28 communities near the Lebanese border to evacuate. The military order affects communities that are within two kilometers (1.2 miles) of the border.
