IDF soldiers fire warning shots at Lebanese group infiltrating the Israeli border

Israeli soldiers fired warning shots on Sunday at a Lebanese group led by a Beirut lawmaker while they were trespassing across the border into Israeli territory

Lebanese Parliament Member Qassem Hashem of the Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party reportedly led a group of 18 around the territory where Israel and Lebanon share a common border, according to Hezbollah-affiliated reporter Ali Shoeib.

The Lebanese group succeeded in entering 80 meters (a little over 260 feet) into the Jewish state’s territory before it was driven back by Israeli border patrol forces.

العدو يعتدي على النائب قاسم هاشم وعدد من الصحفيين خلال جولة داخل خط الانسحاب في مزرعة قفوة المحتلة pic.twitter.com/ud5cCmjs54

— علي شعيب || Ali Shoeib 🇱🇧 (@alishoeib1970) July 15, 2023

The incident reportedly took place in the Mount Dov region, a small contested border territory, which Israel captured from Syria during the Six-Day War in 1967. While Beirut claims the contested territory belongs to them, it has formally never been part of Lebanon.

עוד ביום בגבול ישראל - לבנון. כך זה נראה ממצלמת כתב הערוץ הלבנוני אל-ג'דיד https://t.co/CQV5pCgO0j pic.twitter.com/0YEKG9N4vR

— roi kais • روعي كايس • רועי קייס (@kaisos1987) July 15, 2023

The incident comes on the heels of growing tensions along the Lebanese-Israeli border.

In late June, UNFIL, the UN peacekeeping mission in charge of monitoring the Lebanese-Israeli border, confirmed that a group of Hezbollah terrorists had set up an outpost on the Israeli side of the border. The powerful Iranian-backed fundamentalist group appears to be increasingly testing the Jewish state’s resolve to defend its border and territory.

The Israeli government has said it prefers a diplomatic solution to the border standoff with Hezbollah, however, the Israeli military has warned it will use force to remove the illegal Hezbollah outpost on Israeli territory, if necessary.

Last week Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned on Wednesday that the terror organization's operatives would respond to any action against the outposts located in the disputed border area. 

He also accused Israel of trying to illegally take the town of Ghajar and demanded that it withdraw Israeli forces from the location.

“Starting last year, the enemy raised a fence to annex the northern part of the town of Ghajar, which is Lebanese territory with international recognition…and turned it into a tourist area under the silence of the United Nations,” Nasrallah said.