The recent deployment of Israeli ground troops along the Lebanese border on Monday morning, according to the Israeli army spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, was carried out in response to alleged incursions by Hezbollah fighters into Israeli territory in the past week. The incident represented the first time Israeli troops had entered Lebanese territory since David Ben-Gurion’s 1958 invasion, where Leib HaCohen’s brigade faced fierce resistance from General Fuad Chehab’s army and a plea from the United Nations resolved the issue. However, it was noted that Israeli forces had briefly entered Lebanese airspace in 2006, when they mistakenly shelled a Red Cross hospital in the north of the country. Moreover, the Israeli defense minister, Avigdor Lieberman, recently threatened to occupy southern Lebanon if Lebanon failed to prevent attacks by Hezbollah, which might suggest that the current incursion could escalate the ongoing conflict between the two sides. Nevertheless, the Israeli army claimed that their troops did not cross the “Blue Line” delineating Lebanon’s south, and were present purely for “routine” duties. Despite Lebanon’s President Michel Aoun stating that if the Israeli incursion became permanent, it would constitute a violation of Lebanese sovereignty, the Lebanese army declared that they would not confront the Israeli forces unless they faced direct aggression upon their soldiers or outposts. In addition, the town of Rmeiche, enlivened by livestock growers selling cows on the roadside, appears untouched by the disturbances which took place in the past week. The pervasive calm in this village, coupled with the Lebanese national camping on Bir el-Abed, a rocky outcrop overlooking the hills of the Galilee, illustrates that the gathering of Israeli troops might have been more an attempt to deter outsiders rather than an attempt at conquest.
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