The Israel-Lebanon border. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Israeli forces are on high alert along the Lebanese border, Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported on Sunday.

According to the report, the IDF sent ground reinforcements, covered from the air, into Zebdine and Bastra in the Shebaa Farms. The move came after Lebanese citizens — led by a member of parliament — crossed the border to stage a protest in the area, a known flashpoint for clashes between Hezbollah and the Israeli military.

Israel captured the Shebaa Farms, known in Hebrew as Har Dov, with the Golan Heights during the Six Day War, and annexed it in 1981. Beirut claims that the Farms are rightfully Lebanese. However, Jerusalem and the United Nations say they are originally Syrian.