Hezbollah has entered into a state of alert along the Israeli-Lebanese border, according to a report in Asharq Al-Awsat. A spokesman for the militia, considered a terror

organization by Israel and the United States, allegedly told the pan-Arabic newspaper that “Israel has accustomed us to aggression and we are used to being vigilant and on the lookout all the time.”

Sheikh Naim Kassem, the deputy Secretary-General of Hezbollah, said regarding Israel, “Let them know that any attack would have a heavy price, regardless of the justifications—we know that Israel does not need to be justified if it is to transgress—but when you know that the price is high I think that it would consider a lot.” Kassem further stated that “the resistance is forever at work making preparations to face such possibility [of Israeli aggression].”

Asharq Al-Awsat has also reported that Syria has activated troops from its fourth reserve, which includes residents of Lebanon.

These actions are said to be in response to recent IDF maneuvers in northern Israel. In light of these moves, Minister without portfolio Yossi Peled, the former commanding officer of IDF Northern Command, stated, “We are heading for another round in the north. No one knows when, but it’s clear that it will happen.”

However, other Israeli leaders have downplayed the chances of a conflict erupting. Maj.-Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, the current commander of the Northern Command, which includes the border with Lebanon and Syria, called reports of tension in the region “a virtual reality” with no basis in fact. Eizenkot also reportedly threatened the use of disproportionate force in the event of renewed aggression from Hezbollah.

The Prime Minister’s Office was also quick to dismiss Peled’s words, issuing a statement that Israel “is not looking for any confrontation with anyone. Israel is interested in peace.”

Hezbollah has been rearming at a furious pace since its 2006 war against Israel, in which it launched missile barrages against civilian population centers, forcing residents of the north to live for extended periods in bomb shelters. The United Nations maintains a peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon. However, the UN’s UNIFIL force does not have the authority to enter Lebanese villages uninvited.

In 2009, IDF chief of staff Lt. Gen Gabi Ashkenazi announced that the Iranian-backed terror organization has acquired missiles with an effective range of 300 kilometers (185 miles). While such missiles make up only a small fraction of the Hezbollah’s arsenal, they do give the Islamist militia the ability to strike targets in the Jerusalem area.

At the Galilee Conference in October, President Shimon Peres declared, “Hezbollah has turned Lebanon into a powder keg.” Peres went on to state, “It is Hezbollah which is endangering Lebanon, not Israel, just as it is Hamas which is endangering the Palestinian people.”

Peres’s statement was in response to footage filmed by an IAF unmanned drone in which Hezbollah operatives were seen removing weapons from the southern Lebanese village of Dir Kanun A-Nahar, following an explosion in a weapons depot situated there.

According to the IDF spokesman’s office, “The possession of weaponry by Hezbollah in the southern Lebanon, in the area south of the Litani River, is a severe violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War in 2006.”

Earlier this month, a joint search operation between the Lebanese army and UNIFIL uncovered 300 kilograms (660 pounds) of explosives cached only one kilometer from the border.

Between Hamas’s Kassam rockets in Gaza and long-range missiles from southern Lebanon, a significant percentage of Israel’s population is now vulnerable to rocket strikes should armed conflict erupt. An additional worry for Israelis is the recent report in the Washington Post in which the new dispositions of Hezbollah missile-launching sites are revealed. Hezbollah has spread its rocket forces throughout northern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley. This means that a future conflict would not be confined to the border zone, but would extend throughout the country, possibly bringing the regular Lebanese army into the fray.

Hezbollah is a major player in Lebanese politics and controls a significant number of seats in the Lebanese parliament. Hezbollah and its allies maintain a veto power, with control of 11 out of 30 seats in the cabinet. In December, the parliament approved a measure to allow Hezbollah to keep their weapons, indicating an increased accommodation of Hezbollah within the Lebanese power structure.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon met with the United Nations special coordinator in Lebanon, Michael Williams, on Sunday to discuss Hezbollah rearmament. The DFM told Williams that Hezbollah is testing anti-aircraft missiles, while Williams expressed concerns over IAF flyovers of Lebanese airspace in violation of UN resolutions.

They also discussed the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from the town of Ghajar, which straddles the Israel-Lebanon border. UN troops are expected to take over security in the northern half of the town together with Lebanese soldiers, over opposition from local residents who hold Israeli citizenship. The village’s mukhtar (leader) stated that his community “will fight for the unity of the village until death,” as they do not want to become part of Lebanon or Hezbollah’s proxy state in the southern regions of the country.

There have been no reports of reservists being called up in Israel.