BEIRUT: The Lebanese Army has accused Israel of violating the border by setting up a barbed wire fence in a border area near Adaysseh.

A Lebanese Army communiqué called the Israeli act a “new violation of Lebanese sovereignty.”

It said Israeli troops erected a 75-meter long barbed wire fence in a "reserved" area near Adaysseh between 2:50 a.m. and 3:52 a.m. Thursday.

“Army units deployed in the region took the necessary measures,” the communiqué said, adding that the issue has been resolved via the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.

UNIFIL spokesman Neeraj Singh confirmed Thursday that the Israeli army had set up a barbed wire fence near Adaysseh.

“On the night of Feb. 7-8 in the general area of Adaysseh Israeli troops laid concertina wire to mark the mine field after prior notification to UNIFIL,” Singh said in a statement.

“During this time UNIFIL troops were deployed in the area to ensure that there were no violations of the Blue Line,” the statement added.

Singh clarified to The Daily Star that Israeli troops “did cross the technical fence. But the Israeli technical fence is not the Blue Line and in this area there is a distance between the technical fence and the Blue Line.”

Security sources told The Daily Star Thursday that a group of Israeli troops had erected a barbed wire fence in a reserved area near Adaysseh and were conducting patrols.

The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said 15 Israeli troops had entered some 75 meters into the area near Adaysseh, Marjayoun, and erected the fence between 12.30 a.m. and 2.15 a.m. Wednesday.

In response to a question, Singh said that UNIFIL is aware of Lebanon’s territorial claims to this area.

“However, in the year 2000 both Lebanon and Israel undertook to respect the Blue Line as identified by the U.N. notwithstanding their respective reservations,” he said.

In 2010, Adaysseh saw the deadliest clashes between Lebanese and Israeli troops in several years.