UNIFIL enabled Hizbullah to plant border bombs

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Defense officials slammed UNIFIL and the Lebanese government Monday night, claiming that their "slackness" was what enabled Hizbullah to plant five deadly explosive devices along the border between Israel and Lebanon. IDF officials said it was possible that the bombs were planted as part of a planned kidnapping attack similar to the July 12 abduction of reservists Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser that sparked the war this past summer.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz transmitted a harsh-worded message to UNIFIL command in Lebanon and urged the peacekeeping force to crack down on Hizbullah and prevent the guerrilla group from returning to the border and carrying out attacks against Israel.

The Northern Command assessed that the bombs found on Monday, just north of Avivim and right along the Blue Line international border between Israel and Lebanon, were planted there only a few days ago by Hizbullah.

Soldiers from Engineering Battalion 630 under the command of Lt.-Col. Eran Pauker discovered one of the explosive devices during a routine patrol along the border. The bombs - weighing between 15 to 20 kilograms each - were made of high-grade explosives and were disguised as boulders to blend in with the rocky terrain.

"We are deployed well along the border and do all we can to prevent Hizbullah from even getting close to Israel," said Pauker. "Due to bad weather, however, it is possible for them to get close to the border without us or UNIFIL noticing."

The soldiers did not cross the border, but instead detonated the bombs by shooting at them from a distance. IDF sources in the Northern Command described the incident as "an operational success," claiming that in the past it had sometimes taken the IDF months to discover Hizbullah bombs and bunkers along the border.

According to Pauker, the IDF was operating under the assumption that Hizbullah had succeeded in planting additional bombs along the Israeli-Lebanese border. He estimated that the stormy weather and fog served as cover for Hizbullah terrorists when planting the five bombs along the border several days ago.

While UNIFIL could do more to prevent Hizbullah from launching attacks against Israel, Pauker said that IDF units were well deployed along the border and were backed up by various electronic and technological devices that assisted in detecting border infiltrations.

Two weeks ago, IDF troops from Pauker's battalion destroyed two Hizbullah bunkers that were discovered during searches of the area between the security fence and the Blue Line. The bunkers were used by Hizbullah during the war and were filled with supplies, food and tools.

Explosives Discovered at Northern Border
18:35 Feb 05, '07 / 17 Shevat 5767
by Hana Levi Julian
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=120971

IDF soldiers discovered several bombs planted some 60 meters north of the international Israel-Lebanon border early Monday morning during a routine search of the area near Moshav Avivim.

According to military sources, three bombs disguised in containers to look like boulders were discovered at the site. All were detonated in a controlled explosion, which attracted the attention of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) as well as the Lebanese army, which arrived at the site.

Sources within the Northern Command said the explosive devices were recently planted to target IDF patrols, evidence that Hizbullah terrorist activity has not ceased, despite the presence of the 12,000-strong international peacekeeping force.

Last month the IDF blew up two underground bunkers along the border within Israeli territory. Both were located some 400 meters east of the IDF’s Biranit outpost, between the border fence and the international border and contained supplies that would enable terrorists to stay underground for a long period of time.

According to Mideast Newsline, the bunkers had been under construction for the past 18 months, despite IDF patrols in the area and the presence of Lebanese army and UNIFIL troops along the border.

Military personnel found shovels, food and equipment in the bunkers, which were connected and had been used as a base for attacks against Israel.

Government officials previously stated that one of the bunkers had been discovered during the war, but did not explain why the army waited seven months before destroying it.

Two weeks earlier, IDF soldiers discovered five cases very close to the site where IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev were kidnapped by Hizbullah terrorists in a cross-border attack July 12th.

The cases contained three RPG shoulder-launched missiles, a ten-kilogram MAG machine gun, five bullet casings of LAW (Light Anti-Armor Weapon) missiles, shoes and fence-cutting equipment.

It is believed that the items, which were found during a routine patrol near Moshav Zar’it on the Israel-Lebanese border, were used in the abduction of the two IDF reservists.

Four soldiers were killed in the original abduction attack, and four more were killed in a tank that was blown up by a powerful mine on their way to search for the abducted soldiers.

When news of the kidnapping became known, Israel Air Force planes took to the air, striking bridges and escape routes in southern Lebanon in an effort to prevent Hizbullah from taking their Israeli captives deeper into enemy territory. Thus began the war known as the Second Lebanon War.

IDF officers in the north say that Hizbullah agents - possibly dressed as shepherds or joggers - are once again gathering intelligence against the IDF.

The sources added that UNIFIL has been cooperative in working with the IDF maintain security in the region.

Another 1,000 international troops are expected to join the force by the end of the month. Qatar soldiers recently joined the force, the first soldiers from an Arab country to serve in Lebanon.

Israeli relations with Qatar are very positive, as was seen in a recent state visit by Vice Premier Shimon Peres to the Persian Gulf nation.

The IDF has filed a formal complaint with UNIFIL.

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