IDF: UNIFIL enabled Hizbullah to plant border bombs
Yaakov Katz, THE JERUSALEM POST Feb. 5, 2007
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Defense officials slammed UNIFIL and the Lebanese government Monday night,
claiming that their "slackness" was what enabled Hizbullah to plant five
deadly explosive devices along the border between Israel and Lebanon. IDF
officials said it was possible that the bombs were planted as part of a
planned kidnapping attack similar to the July 12 abduction of reservists
Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser that sparked the war this past summer.

Defense Minister Amir Peretz transmitted a harsh-worded message to UNIFIL
command in Lebanon and urged the peacekeeping force to crack down on
Hizbullah and prevent the guerrilla group from returning to the border and
carrying out attacks against Israel.

The Northern Command assessed that the bombs found on Monday, just north of
Avivim and right along the Blue Line international border between Israel and
Lebanon, were planted there only a few days ago by Hizbullah.

Soldiers from Engineering Battalion 630 under the command of Lt.-Col. Eran
Pauker discovered one of the explosive devices during a routine patrol along
the border. The bombs - weighing between 15 to 20 kilograms each - were made
of high-grade explosives and were disguised as boulders to blend in with the
rocky terrain.

"We are deployed well along the border and do all we can to prevent
Hizbullah from even getting close to Israel," said Pauker. "Due to bad
weather, however, it is possible for them to get close to the border without
us or UNIFIL noticing."

The soldiers did not cross the border, but instead detonated the bombs by
shooting at them from a distance. IDF sources in the Northern Command
described the incident as "an operational success," claiming that in the
past it had sometimes taken the IDF months to discover Hizbullah bombs and
bunkers along the border.

According to Pauker, the IDF was operating under the assumption that
Hizbullah had succeeded in planting additional bombs along the
Israeli-Lebanese border. He estimated that the stormy weather and fog served
as cover for Hizbullah terrorists when planting the five bombs along the
border several days ago.

While UNIFIL could do more to prevent Hizbullah from launching attacks
against Israel, Pauker said that IDF units were well deployed along the
border and were backed up by various electronic and technological devices
that assisted in detecting border infiltrations.

Two weeks ago, IDF troops from Pauker's battalion destroyed two Hizbullah
bunkers that were discovered during searches of the area between the
security fence and the Blue Line. The bunkers were used by Hizbullah during
the war and were filled with supplies, food and tools.