Nicholas Blanford
Special to The Daily Star

Two brothers from the flashpoint border village of Ghajar have been arrested by Israeli authorities on suspicion of supplying Hizbullah with information in exchange for drugs.
Mohammed and Ahmad Shimali are alleged to have passed intelligence to Hizbullah on an Israeli military position at the entrance of Ghajar, including the number of soldiers manning it and the procedures for entering and departing the village.
The announcement of the arrests coincides with a heightened alert by the Israeli military along the border with Lebanon in expectation of an imminent Hizbullah attack.
Ghajar straddles the United Nations-delineated Blue Line and has been described by the Israeli military as Israel’s “soft underbelly.” Hizbullah mans an observation post at the northern end of the village in an old bomb shelter. Israeli troops guard the southern entrance of the village, which is fenced off with access limited to the Alawite residents.
According to Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, the two men were also suspected of having supplied Hizbullah with maps and other intelligence material. One of the brothers admitted to having entered Lebanon to meet Hizbullah officials with the help of a Lebanese drug dealer from Kfar Kila.
Ghajar has long been associated with drug smuggling. Hizbullah exploited the cross-border drug smuggling connections following the Israeli withdrawal from South Lebanon in May 2000 to establish spy networks in northern Israel. Last February, the Israelis uncovered an intelligence-for-drugs spy ring in Ghajar, arresting six residents and two Israeli citizens from Kiryat Shemona.
Despite the calm of the past few months, Ghajar remains the most active flashpoint along the Blue Line. In early November, a series of roadside bombs were discovered planted beneath fiber-glass “rocks” alongside the border fence.
Two weeks ago, two Lebanese hunters were shot dead by Israeli soldiers after they crossed the Hasbani River near Ghajar. The Blue Line follows the Hasbani River from the tri-border point to Ghajar, although the border security fence is built on the bank some 50-100 meters east of the river.
Fears that Israeli soldiers may be kidnapped by Hizbullah continue to haunt the military. Farmers have been told to stay away from the border and a ski slope on Mount Hermon has been closed to the public.