Disputed borders and denied towers: Israel pushes back on monitoring plan

Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Yasmine Jaroudi

Israel has continued efforts to legitimize its hold over five disputed sites along the Lebanese border, releasing a "wide-ranging intelligence report” on Lebanon and the Syrian-Lebanese frontier. 

The report claims that Hezbollah is strengthening its presence in South Lebanon.

Meanwhile, the Israeli border town of Shlomi has seen a spike in military drills and readiness for potential surprise escalations, including scenarios involving infiltration. Along the tense frontier, elite commando units, explosive experts, assault teams, surveillance personnel, and drone squads have been deployed to prevent a repeat of the October 7 incident.

In parallel, the head of research at the Alma Research and Education Center revealed that Israel recently turned down a British proposal to fund the installation of more than 29 surveillance towers in Lebanon. 

According to the center's head, the UK has been increasing efforts to finance the construction of observation posts and monitoring systems for use by the Lebanese Army along the border with Israel.

The center argued in its report that such infrastructure could compromise Israel’s security and be exploited by Hezbollah. It concluded that surveillance towers would not serve as an adequate substitute for a continued Israeli military presence along the border and within the five contested sites.