Too close for comfort: Hezbollah films top IDF brass on border, ‘could have been very, very deadly’

Hezbollah-affiliated news outlet publishes video of Chief of Staff, Northern District Commander touring border, seemingly unware that they were being filmed.

By Adina Katz, World Israel News

Operatives from the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror group filmed senior members of the Israeli military, with senior IDF officials seemingly unaware that they were under surveillance.

The Hezbollah-affiliated Al Manar media network recently published a 30-second-long video of the Israeli military’s Chief of Staff, Herzi Halevi, and Northern District Commander Ori Gordin touring the border.

During the clip, the camera zooms in on Halevi and Gordin, suggesting that the terror operative filming the video was aware of the identity of the two men.

The pair were accompanied by dozens of soldiers as they walked along the Israeli side of the Blue Line, which serves as the de facto border with Lebanon.

Security Cabinet News, a military-focused Telegram channel, said that the clip demonstrates that the significant military figures were likely within Hezbollah’s firing range.

“This could have been a very, very deadly opening salvo” for a war between the Israeli military and Lebanon, the channel noted.

Tensions along the northern border have spiked in recent weeks, with Hezbollah setting up an illegal encampment on the Israeli side of the Blue Line.

Despite UNIFIL, the UN’s peacekeeping body, acknowledging that the encampment violates Israeli sovereignty, the body has dragged its feet on forcing the terror group to clear out. Israeli officials have warned that should Hezbollah not fully evacuate the area, they will use military means to ensure the area is free of terror assets.

After a heated back-and-forth, including a Lebanese MP daring Israel to “declare war or shut up,” Hezbollah removed one of the tents.

Earlier this week, Hezbollah terrorists stole a surveillance camera on the northern border. The IDF did not disover the theft until hours later, according to a Ynet report.

Last weekend, a member of the Lebanese parliament accompanied by local journalists walked 50 meters into Israeli territory. After ignoring repeated warnings to retreat to Lebanon, IDF soldiers fired warning shots and smoke grenades at the group.

Nobody was injured in the incident.