New “British” observation towers in southern Lebanon will be used by Hezbollah against Israel

Over the past decade, the United Kingdom, with the assistance of the United States, was behind the project to fund and supply observation towers along the northern and eastern borders between Lebanon and Syria, known as the JBP – Joint Border Project (see on this matter).

Approximately forty such towers (see main image) were deployed along the Lebanon–Syria border, spanning about 250 kilometers. The towers are used by the Lebanese army, and their purpose is to assist in preventing smuggling. As part of the project, the Lebanese army was also supplied with advanced surveillance and communication equipment, including sophisticated day and night observation devices and cameras. From the American side, according to our understanding, the U.S. Department of Defense agency DTRA (Defense Threat Reduction Agency) was involved.

With very high probability, some of these means, which were supplied to the Lebanese army over the past decade for the purpose of securing the border with Syria, leaked into the hands of Hezbollah in the years preceding the war and were used by Hezbollah in its activities against Israel.

According to various reports, since the ceasefire went into effect (November 27, 2024), the United Kingdom has been offering to fund and supply similar towers, with observation and imaging systems, to be deployed along the border with Israel and used by the Lebanese army to carry out its mission under Resolution 1701.

The deployment of new towers along the border with Israel, equipped with advanced surveillance and communication systems, will harm Israel’s security, will allow Hezbollah to exploit the deployed infrastructure for its own purposes, and cannot serve as an effective substitute for Israel’s current physical presence in the five areas adjacent to the border.   

Before the war, UNIFIL towers could be identified by their white color and the Lebanese army towers by their black color. These were placed along the border with Israel in certain areas and were not permanently manned. From time to time, UNIFIL soldiers and Lebanese army soldiers could be seen on these towers.

However, there was another actor that used these towers and took advantage of the lack of constant presence in them: Radwan operatives, operatives of the geographic units (Nasser and Aziz), and operatives of Hezbollah’s intelligence and special operations units.

In addition to its mobile structures and towers that were placed near the fence before the war—under the civilian cover of the “Green Without Borders” organization and in practice constituted part of the preparatory infrastructure for intelligence gathering ahead of the planned invasion of the Galilee—Hezbollah also used UNIFIL and Lebanese army towers to carry out observation, surveillance, and intelligence gathering on IDF activity near the border, as part of its preparations for the invasion.

When Hezbollah exploited UNIFIL towers for its purposes, it can be assumed that in most cases this was done without permission or coordination with UNIFIL, although it is known that there was active cooperation between Hezbollah and UNIFIL soldiers. For example, Hezbollah paid UNIFIL soldiers in order to use the UN force’s cameras at positions near the border with Israel. The cameras, which were supposed to document Hezbollah’s military activity, were diverted to serve Hezbollah’s terrorist purposes against Israel.

When Hezbollah used Lebanese army towers for its purposes, it relied on the extent of its influence and penetration within the Lebanese army, and on the fact that there are officers (including senior ones) and soldiers in the Lebanese army who assist it (on sectarian, ideological, and financial grounds) in various matters. Hezbollah’s use of Lebanese army towers and the leakage of observation equipment into its hands was based on internal assistance from within the Lebanese army.

It will be the same in the future. Hezbollah will continue to exploit the Lebanese army’s infrastructure for its own purposes, based on its influence within the Lebanese army. If new towers and observation systems are installed in southern Lebanon, it is only a matter of time before they are used by Hezbollah, just as they were before the war.