BEIRUT  (Xinhua) — Lebanese citizen Assaad Bazzi and his family were standing on the barbed wired fence along the Lebanese-Israeli border at Adaisse, contemplating the numerous patrols of the Israeli army. “Israel’s recent threats come within the verbal escalation we got used to hear and it would not pass the barbed wire fence as war is not a game anymore and the Jewish state has to understand the risks it would take,” Bazzi told Xinhua with confidence. Along the border line in the Kfarkala town, college student Suha Abou Kanso was jogging like every morning. For her, “the drums of war that are beating hard recently are not echoed in our southern towns and villages.” She told Xinhua that “the Israeli threats and the U.S. sanctions against Hezbollah did not change anything in our normal life. Israel is aware that Hezbollah’s military strength has grown through its participation in the Syrian war.” Abou Kanso posed for some selfies with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) soldiers and stressed that “the war that Israel claimed it was preparing for would backfire on it.”

Israeli officials have threatened recently, Hezbollah in particular, along with Lebanon and its army in general that Lebanon would suffer should a new war start between the two countries. On the Bint jbeil front, farmer Adel Bazzi said that he was cultivating his land adjacent to the border line and that “the situation is stable and calm. Life in the border towns and villages is normal and people do not care about the threats.” A UNIFIL officer who spoke to Xinhua on condition of anonymity stressed that “the situation is calm and normal all along the Blue Line and there are at the same time many ongoing construction projects on the Lebanese side.” The Blue Line is the border line that the United Nations drew following the 33-day war between Israel and Hezbollah to demarcate the international borders between Lebanon and Israel. On the Marjeyoun front, Adel Shoucair, a fuel station owner, told Xinhua that “fear has no place in our hearts as long as Lebanon has the deterrent force represented by its army.” He added that “Israel tries to intimidate us with war but we do not care and we are pretty sure that it would not risk its security by launching a new war against Lebanon.” Shoucair pointed to the projects worth millions of dollars that “the southerners are investing which reflect their sense of security regardless of the Israeli threats of war.” Retired Lebanese army officer Jamal said that “we are witnessing an extensive Israeli military exercise but it is only aimed at assuring the Israelis on the domestic front.” During September, Israel held an unprecedented 10-day drill which was claimed to be the largest and the most important the country had carried out in 19 years, for the purpose of preparing for a new war against Hezbollah. Enditem