General Joseph Aoun at an operational command post in the eastern town of Ras Baalbek, on August 23, 2017.

:: Lebanon’s army chief urged “full readiness” at the southern border to face the “threats of the Israeli enemy and its violations,” the army said in a tweet on Tuesday.

Army Commander General Joseph Aoun called on soldiers to be ever vigilant for the “good implementation” of the UN resolution 1701 to “preserve stability” at the border with Israel.

The Lebanese army is responsible for security on its side of the border under the resolution, which ended the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Israel responds

A senior Israeli official dismissed as “nonsense” on Tuesday a warning by Lebanese army’s of possible aggression by Israel.

“It’s nonsense,” the official, who requested anonymity, told Reuters in response to Lebanon’s army commander General Joseph Aoun urging “full readiness” at the southern border to face “threats of the Israeli enemy and its violations”.

Separately, the Israeli military said it had been holding a drill near Israel’s border with Syria since Sunday.