Israel began building a wall on Monday along a 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) stretch of its northern border with Lebanon, saying the barrier was necessary to boost security for Metulla, an Israeli frontier town that sits directly across from a Lebanese village. An Israeli security fence already runs along the entire border but the military said defenses had to be bolstered, and began constructing a 5-7 meter (16-23 foot) high cement wall between Metulla and the Lebanese village of Kila. Barbed wire will run across the wall and technological equipment will be installed, including cameras that allow the Israel Defense Forces to monitor the Lebanese side of the border. "The main reasons for constructing this wall are improving defenses for residents of the north and preventing conflicts between the IDF and Lebanese army," Col. Amit Fisher, a commander of the 769 Brigade along the border, said on Monday. Fisher said the wall would upgrade the existing barrier along the Lebanese border. "In the past year and a half there have been a number of incidents," Fisher said. In one such incident, Lt. Col. (res.) Dov Harari was killed in 2010 by Lebanese army fire. "The wall will serve as a good barrier that will prevent eye contact between the sides that existed in the past, when soldiers from both sides were stationed with weapons directed at one another." Fisher added that Lebanese soldiers appeared to be determined to keep the peace. A cease-fire has largely been maintained along the border since Israel fought a 33-day war against Lebanon's Hezbollah terrorists in 2006. U.N. peacekeepers are stationed in the border area in southern Lebanon. The Israeli military said the border project had been coordinated with the U.N. force and Lebanese Army. Construction is expected to last about two months and the project's estimated cost is NIS 13 million ($3.45 million). Israel is also building a security fence in its south, along the border with Egypt's Sinai desert, citing concerns over terrorist activity and smuggling. Following a request from the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, the IDF and Defense Ministry decided to change the planned route of the fence along the Egyptian border to preserve the canyons of Nahal Gishron near Eilat. Nahal Gishron is one of the more impressive streams in the area, and the original plan for the barrier would have effectively left part of it on the Egyptian side of the fence and would also have damaged the portion of the Israel National Trail that runs through the area. However, Nature and Parks Authority Director Shaul Goldstein and the authority's chapter in Eilat refused to relinquish the unique territory for the project. The army this week accepted the alternate route for the barrier presented by the authority. "This is a great achievement," Goldstein said. "I hope [such an agreement] will be implemented in other areas where security needs face the need for nature and open spaces. The credit for this achievement goes to the people at the Nature and Parks Authority's southern district, to GOC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Tal Russo and the planning team he oversees, which agreed to return the barrier to the international border and cancel the planned enclave [that would have damaged the canyons]." Goldstein added that the barrier, which employs strategically placed blockades, would be based on the natural topography of the area.
