Roadway near border with Lebanon closed
As IDF sends armored personnel carriers and tanks to northern front, section of highway close to border blocked for traffic; farmers directed to avoid fields by border.
Military sources said the closed section of the road is rarely used and only by local residents. The majority of the traffic in the area passes through the new road, Route 2.
Meanwhile, a Lebanese television station affiliated with Hezbollah, Al-Manar, reported increased activity by the Israeli Air Force in northern towns and southern Lebanon, near the border with Israel, in the area of Al-Qasmiyah.
The IDF raised its alert level on the northern front on Monday, in positions along the border with Syrian and Lebanon, as foreign media outlets reported that Iron Dome batteries were being deployed in the north, less than a day after a strike attributed to Israel killed senior Hezbollah officers and Iranian soldiers.
Apart from the deployment of the missile interceptor batteries on the northern front – reported by Sky News in Arabic – there has not been a significant reinforcement of the forces on the border.
Earlier on Tuesday, a senior Israeli defense source told Reuters that an Iranian general killed in an air strike in Syria largely attributed to Israel was not its intended target and Israel believed it was attacking only low-ranking guerrillas.
Asked if Israel expected Iranian or Hezbollah retaliation for the air strike, the source said: "They are almost certain to respond. We are anticipating that, but I think it's a fair assumption that a major escalation is not in the interest of either side."
"We did not expect the outcome in terms of the stature of those killed - certainly not the Iranian general," the source said. "We thought we were hitting an enemy field unit that was on its way to carry out an attack on us at the frontier fence."
Earlier on Tuesday, security forces were deployed to the border with Lebanon after a civilian convoy on the Lebanese side was seen carrying weapons, firing in the air, and waving Hezbollah flags. It was later discovered the convoy was part of a funeral procession from a nearby town.
The tension on the northern front has continued in the days after the Sunday strike on Hezbollah officers in Syria, including Jihad Mughniyeh – son of Imad Mughniyeh, killed in 2008.
Ahiya Raved and Nimdor Semel contributed to this report.
