Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group said it has started destroying CCTV cameras on several Israeli army posts along the border as tension rises in light of the Israel-Hamas conflict.
Hezbollah’s military media arm released a video showing snipers shooting at and destroying cameras on five points along the Lebanon-Israel border, including one outside the Israeli town of Metula.
The militant 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 fighters, on the Lebanese side.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned Iran and Hezbollah not to “test us” in the north.
Mr Netanyahu gave a speech in the Israeli Knesset on Monday in which he said the world needed to unite to defeat Hamas. He said “this war is also your war”, and he compared Hamas to the Nazis.
Since the October 7 attack by the Palestinian militant Hamas group on southern Israel, which killed more than 1,400 Israeli civilians and troops, tension has been on the rise along the Lebanon-Israel border.
Hezbollah fighters fired anti-tank missiles on Israeli army positions and Israeli troops shelled border areas on the Lebanese side of the border.
Israel and Hezbollah are bitter enemies who fought a month-long war, in the summer of 2006, which ended in a draw.
Israel considers the Iran-backed Shiite militant group its most serious immediate threat, estimating that Hezbollah has some 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel.
There are concerns that the powerful Iran-backed Hezbollah could join the war against 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.
Hezbollah politician 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 has arrived in Beirut, where she will meet officials to discuss border tensions.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati said the country’s politically paralysed 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 within 1.2 miles of the border.
Hezbollah has said the increased strikes are a warning and do not mean the group has decided to go to war.
The World Health Organisation said on Monday it has sent two shipments of medical supplies to Beirut in preparation for potential escalation along the Lebanon-Israel border.
