Israeli wall rising near border with Lebanon stokes tensions

ROSH HANIKRA, Israel – Israel is building a massive wall along its northern border, saying the barrier is needed to protect civilians from Hezbollah attacks, but the project has raised tensions with Lebanon, which fears the fence will encroach on its territory.

The Israeli military insists the entire barrier is being constructed in Israeli territory, and U.N. peacekeepers agree. But Hezbollah has never fully accepted the border, and Lebanon and Israel are still technically at war.

Israel’s military conducted a large-scale exercise in northern Israel this week simulating a future conflict with Hezbollah, with which it fought a monthlong war in 2006. Israelis fear there could be a renewal of hostilities as the civil war winds down in neighbouring Syria, where the Iran-backed militant group has been fighting alongside President Bashar Assad’s forces.