Men were unarmed; approached patrol near border in a suspicious manner.
By JPOST.COM STAFF, APidf 88(photo credit: )
IDF soldiers released five Lebanese men from custody on Saturday morning after detaining them overnight.
It was initially reported that the five men were armed, however, according to Israel Radio, the men were unarmed but had approached the soldiers on patrol there in a suspicious manner.
The five were detained in Ayta a-Shaab, a village near the border that saw heavy fighting between Hizbullah and the IDF during the 34-day war in Lebanon.
The IDF said Friday that soldiers stopped a group of men who were moving toward the Israeli border and questioned them.
Israeli forces are in the process of withdrawing from areas they seized in the south during the Lebanon war, and Lebanese soldiers and UN peacekeepers are taking their place under the terms of a UN-brokered cease-fire that began Aug. 14.
Since the truce began, troops have seized Lebanese in areas under Israeli control on three other occasions, Lebanese officials said. In each case, the detained Lebanese were handed over to UN peacekeepers at the Lebanese border village of Naqoura, apparently after being taken into Israel for questioning.
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