JERUSALEM, April 1: Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday warned the Lebanese Hezbollah militia not to “test” Israel along its heavily guarded northern border.

“The soldiers of the Israeli army are watching everything that occurs near the frontier with Lebanon and I would not advise anyone to test Israel, which is the strongest country in the region,” Barak told public radio.

Barak made the remarks while on an inspection tour of the border, where Hezbollah militants seized two Israeli soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid in 2006, kicking off a 34-day war.

Israel has been on high alert following the end of a 40-day mourning period for top Hezbollah commander Imad Mughnieh, who was killed in a February 12 bombing in Damascus that the militia blamed on the Jewish state.

Israel welcomed Mughnieh’s death but denied any responsibility.

According to public radio, Barak told parliament’s powerful foreign affairs and defence committee at a closed-door meeting on Tuesday that “Hezbollah continues to build up arms, with the help of Iran.” The 34-day conflict ended under a UN-brokered ceasefire after more than 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers, were killed.—AFP