Lebanese army ordered to ‘confront’ Israel on border

Lebanon’s president orders the army to confront Israeli forces operating in southern Lebanon following an IDF incursion overnight.

By World Israel News Staff

Lebanon has ordered its army to prepare for possible confrontations with the Israeli military in southern Lebanon, after a brief incursion by the IDF.

On Thursday, Lebanese President Joseph Aoun ordered the military to “confront any Israeli incursion” into Lebanese territory, marking a departure from Beirut’s previous policy of avoiding direct conflict with Israel.

The orders were issued hours after an IDF force entered the Lebanese border town of Blida at approximately 1:30 a.m. during a counter-terror operation targeting the Hezbollah terror organization.

The IDF force, which included mechanized units, operated in Blida for two and a half hours before withdrawing, according to the Lebanese national broadcaster, National News Agency.

During the incursion, IDF soldiers operated in the town’s municipal offices. An individual in the office was spotted by IDF forces, who attempted to detain the man, an IDF spokesperson later said.

However, during the arrest procedure, the troops identified an “immediate threat” from the man.

“Once an immediate threat to the soldiers was identified, they opened fire to remove the threat, and a hit was identified,” the IDF spokesperson added.

Israeli forces later left the building, after which Lebanese army forces entered Blida and retrieved the body from the municipal building.

The National News Agency later identified the slain man as Ibrahim Salameh, an employee of the Blida municipality, who had been sleeping in the building.

Israel said that Hezbollah had frequently used the municipal building in Blida for “terror activity under the guise of civilian infrastructure.”

“This is another example of a pattern of behavior that endangers the residents of Lebanon and reflects Hezbollah’s cynical exploitation of civilian infrastructure for terror purposes.”

Lebanese leaders, however, expressed outrage following the incident.

Prime Minister Nawaf Salam called the incursion a “blatant attack on… the sovereignty of the State of Lebanon.”