Israel detains pair crossing border from Lebanon

The Israeli military said two suspects were arrested early Thursday after crossing the border from Lebanon near Yiftah, an Israel kibbutz on the eastern part of the border.

The Israel Defense Forces' spokesperson's unit tweeted that military surveillance on the border spotted the suspects crossing the border. Soldiers responding to the alert caught the pair and interrogated them on the spot.

The tweet said that the army did not consider this an incident that threatened national security.

Israel's northern border has been largely quiet since the Second Lebanon War in 2006, although the Jewish state faces sworn enemies among Palestinian groups and Shiite militants in Lebanon.

While UN peacekeepers and the Lebanese military have been unable to stop the Iranian-backed Hezbollah or Palestinian groups from operating against Israel in the past, the economic crisis in Lebanon has driven migrants seeking work to seek their fortunes to their southern neighbor.

Israel and Lebanon, despite having no formal relations, are engaged in negotiations brokered by the United States to settle a maritime border dispute over Israel's offshore gas rigs. Such a deal promises to provide the Lebanese government with much-needed funds.