Israel to Strengthen Defenses Along Northern Border After Firing

(Bloomberg) -- Israel will reinforce troops, enhance field intelligence and restrict some routes along the Lebanese border to military vehicles after a rocket or mortar shell fired from Syria damaged a building and vehicle in a northern community.

The Ynet news website said Friday that deployment changes came after a threat by Hezbollah to respond to a July 21 attack on southern Damascus that the Syrian state-run news agency Sana attributed Israeli fighter jets. Ynet said a Hezbollah fighter was killed in the attack.

“We are preparing for various scenarios, and conduct constant situation assessments,” Major General Amir Baram, commanding officer of the northern command, told heads of local authorities, according to an Army spokesman’s statement. “We will continue to deploy in order to protect and operate as required.”

Israel’s army was already reinforcing in the north before Friday’s incident along the border, in which no injuries were reported.

Israel has for years quietly carried out airstrikes against Iranian targets inside Syria, where Tehran is a key backer of President Bashar al-Assad. But in recent months it’s become more open about its intention to prevent Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah from establishing a permanent base across the country’s northern border.

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