IDF finds pit with explosives in Lebanese side of village straddling Israel border

The military says that during engineering clearance operations in the northern village of Ghajar, which straddles the Israel-Lebanon border, a pit containing explosive material was found.

IDF sappers were dispatched to the scene — on the Lebanese side of the UN-recognized Blue Line — and removed the explosives from the hole.

According to the military, the hole is connected to another pit found some two weeks ago, which the IDF said was constructed before the 2006 Second Lebanon War.

The IDF is investigating whether the explosives belong to Hezbollah.

Ghajar is the only Alawite-majority settlement in the country. It was originally part of the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and annexed in 1981. In 2000, when Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon following a 15-year military occupation and the United Nations demarcated the so-called Blue Line, Ghajar was split in two, with the northern half coming under Lebanese control.

Israel regained control over the entire village during the Second Lebanon War in 2006, after Hezbollah used the Ghajar area to stage attacks.