Dozens of Lebanese rioters threw stones at IDF troops on Israel’s northern border on Friday afternoon and tried to vandalize the security barrier.

Lebanese Army soldiers stood guard near the rioters and aimed RPGs at IDF soldiers on the other side of the border.

IDF soldiers fired tear gas in response and engaged in other riot dispersal means in order to disperse the crowd.

The IDF spokesperson later issued a statement saying that “the IDF will not allow any attempt to violate the sovereignty of the State of Israel.”

The Defense Ministry has been rebuilding the security barrier on Israel’s northern border since 2018 and in recent years, there have been numerous conflicts between the IDF and the Lebanese army over the latter’s claim of Israeli incursions into its territory.

On Wednesday, a Lebanese man tried to “establish sovereignty” and stop an Israeli bulldozer working on the border by standing in front of it. The bulldozer continued until the man was stuck in the dirt, at which point U.N. peacekeepers intervened to extricate him. Videos of the incident were widely circulated on Israeli social media.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)