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Israel builds border wall

April 30, 2012

Following up on plans announced in January, Israel has started construction on a wall that will run along part of its border with Lebanon in an effort to curb attacks on the Israeli town of Metulla.

https://p.dw.com/p/14n3Z
epa02851581 Israeli soldiers keep watch on the border with Lebanon, facing the Wazzani River area, southern Lebanon, 01 August 2011. According to media reports, Israeli and Lebanese troops exchanged fire on their joint border on 01 August 2011, with both sides offering conflicting accounts of who fired first. United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) spokesman Neeraj Singh confirmed the clashes that occurred in the Wazzani area between the Israeli and Lebanese armies. EPA/HASSAN BAHSOUN
Israelische Soldaten an der Grenze zum Libanon Archivbild 2011Image: picture-alliance/dpa

Construction began Monday on a wall that is to follow a one-kilometer (0.6-mile) stretch of Israel's border with Lebanon. A fence is already in place along the entire border, but Israeli officials say extra protection is needed to protect the town of Metulla from attacks coming from Lebanon.

"(The wall is) intended to prevent firing from the Lebanese side into the Israeli side," said Colonel Amit Fisher, a border commander, on Israeli Radio."In the past year and a half there have been a number of incidents."

The wall is to be 5-7 meters (16-23 feet) high.

Israel announced the wall project in January, saying a recently constructed apartment building was at risk of sniper fire from the Lebanese town of Kfar Kila.

Although the two nations are technically at war, military officials regularly meet to coordinate security along their shared border.

In 2006, Israel fought a war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, and a ceasefire has been largely maintained since then.

mz/slk (Reuters, AFP)