'Explosives found at Lebanon border were part of Hezbollah terror plot'
Authorities originally believed that the explosives found in Metullah last month belonged to local criminals.
By YOSSI MELMANA SOLDIER near Metulla monitors Lebanon(photo credit: REUTERS/BAZ RATNER)
A bag full of explosives located in a wooded area of Metulla near the Lebanese border last month was smuggled into Israel by Hezbollah, the defense establishment now believes.Defense sources estimate that the explosives were smuggled into Israel from Lebanon with the intention of being used in a terror attack.A Hezbollah "courier" was likely supposed to collect the explosives, however a local farmer found the bag first, spoiling the plot.Authorities originally believed that the explosives belonged to local criminals, however an investigation led to the assessment that Hezbollah was the actual culprit.The Shi'ite terror organization regularly attempts to smuggle explosives and drugs over the border into Israel. The majority of these attempts are thwarted by intelligence information and the alertness of IDF patrols in the area.As Israel and Hezbollah marked ten years since 2006's Second Lebanon War earlier this month, the terrorist group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah, warned against a possible rekindling of hostilities.“Israel knows that there is no location in the country that is not in Hezbollah’s cross-hairs,” Nasrallah said in a video broadcast.JPost.com staff contributed to this report.