The sea gleams beneath us. The sun came out and we had a perfect view of the coast.
This could be a beautiful place, but instead we’re about to dive for shelter.
Welcome to the border between Israel AND Lebanon.
We came here with the Israeli army to show that they have control over this area and, as I will learn, to express anger at the United Nations (UN).
But also to satisfy our curiosity – what is it like on this border when so many missiles, rockets and drones fly through it every day?
So we are on the dividing line between both nations.
From where I’m standing, I can look to my right and see the border wall rising atop the ridge. In front of us is an Israeli army base that has been hit several times Hezbollah rockets.
The official border crossing is currently open only to allow passage for UN officials
And then to my left, maybe 100 meters along the road, is the official border crossing, currently only used to let UN officials through.
“The High Price of War”
There are no tourists here now. In fact, we haven’t seen anyone other than soldiers for a while.
About 60,000 Israelis were evacuated or fled the region.
The goal of Israel’s campaign in southern Lebanon, says Lt. Col. Jordan Herzberg, operations officer for the Army’s 146th Division, is simple – to ensure these people “can go home and live safely.”
Lt. Col. Herzberg says the sound of bullets firing into Lebanon is the ‘sound of freedom’
“These people paid a very high price for the war,” he says.
“Here, the economy is based solely on agriculture and tourism, and both do not exist. They were aimed at hundreds of anti-tank missiles – you could call them anti-home missiles. They hit people’s homes – the homes of ordinary civilians.”
Across the street, the café is empty and no one is looking at its annotated map. The cable car that usually takes visitors down to see caves and railway tunnels built in Britain is idle.
On the other side of the wall, Israel is conducting a house-to-house land campaign, pushing its troops several miles into Lebanon.
Israeli tourist map of the border area with comments
They claim to have discovered huge caches of weapons and ammunition – enough, they say, for Hezbollah to launch a widespread attack on civilians that could have been even more devastating than the October 7 Hamas attack.
The Israelis support their army by regularly firing missiles into Lebanese territory. As we stand on the border, we see clouds of smoke rising into the air from the ridge.
“This is the sound of freedom”
We are about to set off when suddenly there is an urgent call to hide. We hide behind the wall, listening through the sudden silence. A soldier tells me he spotted a UAV – a drone.
“It can be very dangerous,” he says.
A few minutes pass and we find out that it’s safe, but it’s time to go. As we drive away, we see a cloud of smoke rising in the air where the drone was intercepted and destroyed.
Israeli border wall
A few miles from the border, we see plumes of smoke rising into the sky. There is a loud bang as another missile is fired into Lebanon.
“This is the sound of freedom,” said Lt. Col. Herzberg.
However, in his opinion it is a war that should never have happened and he blames the UN. A UN peacekeeping force has been stationed here for almost two decades since the war ended in 2006, and Lt. Col. Herzberg insists that they have failed to do what they were supposed to do.
“If they had done their job, we wouldn’t have been fighting.”
Resolution 1701, under which Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire, called for the removal of all armed groups from the area between the border and the Litani River, almost 20 miles away.
In fact, it never happened. Hezbollah built tunnels and brought in weapons and people.
Stay up to date with the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
Click here
“The UN has been here since 2006 and their mandate is to prevent any armed groups in southern Lebanon other than the Lebanese Armed Forces,” Lt. Col. Herzberg told me.
“Apparently they didn’t do that because we are fighting Hezbollah armed forces in southern Lebanon. We found some Hezbollah positions literally under the noses of UN bases.
“What have they been doing for the last eighteen years? If they had done their job, we wouldn’t be fighting this war.”
Kandice Ardiel is deputy spokesperson for UNIFIL, the UN force in Lebanon. She told me that it was clear that a ceasefire had not been established.
“We have never denied that there are problems and that is why the mission is still here. We consistently note and monitor the spread of the virus,” she said.
Read more:
Palestinians blindfolded and led away by Israeli soldiers
Dozens of Israelis plan to cross the border and settle in Gaza
“We saw videos, including one showing a tunnel several hundred meters from one of our positions in Lebanon. But we are here at the invitation of the Lebanese government, so we have to ask the Lebanese army to facilitate our access. Peacekeepers are not allowed to enter private property on their own, and that permission was never granted.
“Keeping peace is a challenge. Neither side was fully committed to Resolution 1701. We have seen this from the beginning, and what we are seeing now is the result of this lack of trust.”