BEIRUT: Israeli defense officials say Hezbollah is responsible for recent security incidents in south Lebanon, hinting at a possible change in the party’s policy toward the Jewish state since 2006.

Haaretz newspaper released a report Thursday saying that Israeli experts believe there is a "connection" between Hezbollah and recent security incidents in south Lebanon, including the attack earlier this month against members belonging to the French convoy of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon that left five French peacekeepers wounded.

It was the third roadside bomb targeting a UNIFIL convoy this year, with six Italian peacekeepers being wounded in May, while in July five French soldiers were wounded in another blast. Both occurred in the southern city of Sidon and no group has claimed responsibility for either attack.

According to the paper, “Israeli defense officials are worried about an increase in violent activity by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon,” particularly ones involving rocket attacks aimed at Israel.

In late November, one rocket was fired from southern Lebanon and landed into Israel overnight, prompting Israeli troops to retaliate by firing six artillery shells. No group has claimed responsibility. In another incident, one woman was wounded in the south when a Katyusha rocket, apparently aimed at Israel, hit her home.

France’s Foreign Minister Alain Juppe has accused Syria of ordering the attack against the French soldiers and that Hezbollah was involved in it. However, the French official said he had no proof to back his claims.

Hezbollah denies any involvement in the attacks against U.N. peacekeepers in the south.

Lebanon’s Defense Minister Fayez Ghosn has hinted that Israel was behind the mysterious rocket attacks from south Lebanon into the Jewish State in an attempt to undermine security and stability in the area.

"Israeli defense officials believe that Juppe is right. They say Hezbollah is trying to intimidate UNIFIL, particularly the French troops − considered especially assertive − so that they won’t monitor Hezbollah’s activities in southern Lebanon too closely,” the Haaretz report said.

“The attacks are apparently carried out by proxies, smaller organizations, so that they cannot be linked directly to Hezbollah,” it added

The report said that such incidents indicate that Hezbollah has changed its strategy against Israel, since the resistance group had adopted a non-confrontational policy against its enemy on the border since the July-August war of 2006.

"The recent incidents could be important as a whole, indicating that Hezbollah is shedding its policy since the 2006 war. If this is so, the change stems from the worsening crisis in Syria, motivating Hezbollah’s leaders to take action, however constrained,” the report said.

Hezbollah’s chief Sayyed Hasan Nasrallah has warned that any attack against Syria or Iran would engulf the entire region, hinting that his group would interfere if one of its allies was attacked. 

“Hezbollah is in a turbulent state,” an Israeli defense official was quoted by Haaretz as saying. “On the one hand, Assad’s regime faces collapse; on the other, Iran has been forced to cut back its financial aid to the organization due to the international sanctions that Tehran faces.

“Under such circumstances, Hezbollah is liable to make a mistake and pursue courses of action that would further complicate its situation," the official added.