Hizbullah is building a new line of defense in southern Lebanon, stirring fears of a renewed military offensive on Israel, The Times of London reported.
The group is deploying just north of the Litani River, where the United Nations patrol zone ends, the paper reported.
It added that a Shi’ite businessman was buying lands in this area from Christians and Druze. Opponents of the group believe Hizbullah intends to create a mostly Shi’ite-populated area north of the Litani, where Hizbullah can operate with relative freedom.
Hizbullah was engaged in a 34-day military campaign against Israel last summer.
UNIFIL, the U.N. force tasked with helping maintain peace on the Israeli-Lebanese border, bolstered its forces to 15,000 troops after last summer’s fighting.
UNIFIL insists there have been no attempts to smuggle weapons into the area.
However, UNIFIL troops told The Times they witnessed heightened activity from Hizbullah, such as the building of new positions, expansion of old positions, and increased movement of trucks in the area.
Last week, Israel’s Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi said Hizbullah was a long way from meeting its goal of regaining the power it lost during last year’s fighting.
“Their capabilities today are diminished compared to what they were in the past,” he said.
Ashkenazi’s comments contradicted previous projections of the army’s intelligence unit, which said Hizbullah was rapidly rehabilitating and had nearly reached its previous levels of strength.