Ghajar area (Archive photo)
Photo: Guy Ronen
Lebanese shepherd crosses border into Israel
Man crosses border near divided village of Ghajar, released short while later after being questioned by security personnel
IDF forces apprehended a Lebanese civilian on Friday after he had crossed the border into Israel near the Upper Galilee village of Ghajar, which is divided between Israel and Lebanon.
Soldiers manning an observation post in the area spotted the man as he crossed the border into Israel, and a patrol unit was dispatched to pick him up.
Army officials said the man was sent back to Lebanon a short while later after being questioned by security personnel.
During his questioning the man said he was a shepherd and that he had crossed the border by mistake.
Prior to the Second Lebanon War of 2006, Hizbullah used the Lebanese side of Ghajar as a base to spy into Israel, and also tried to launch several attacks against Israeli soldiers from the area.
The period following the war saw a number of incidents in which Lebanese shepherds crossed the border into Israel.
