IRISH United Nations troops in south Lebanon increased patrolling yesterday in an attempt to reassure the civilian population in their area of operations.
The Irish Battalion area was described as "quiet", with the only signs of increasing Israeli military activity coming from military jets flying overhead.
However, there was increasing tension in the area, which has previously been the subject of huge military and aerial bombardments as the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) struck at the area after attacks by local Islamist guerrillas.
There was strong expectation of an Israeli offensive in the aftermath of the killing of the most senior Israeli soldier, Brig-Gen Erez Gerstein, on Sunday, by the Islamic Resistance, the military wing of the Hezbollah political party.
Checkpoints in the Irish Battalion area, situated in the centre of the hilly south Lebanon interior close to the Israeli border, reported that large numbers of local civilians were beginning to leave their homes heading northwards.
Most of the residents of one village, Ayta Zutt, in the centre of the Irish area were said to have packed their belongings and driven north by last night.
The local civilians have good reason to fear an Israeli onslaught. The area was severely hit by artillery and aerial bombardment in the two previous Israeli bombardments of south Lebanon - known as "Operation Accountability" in July 1993 and "Operation Grapes of Wrath" in April 1996.
In the 1996 Israeli bombardment more than 100 civilians, mostly women and children, were killed while seeking shelter inside a UN base at Qana, about 15 km from the Irish Battalion HQ in the village of Tibnin. Irish medical officers gave assistance at Qana.
The Defence Forces press office last night reported that the Irish area was quiet and patrolling was continuing to show the UN presence in the area.
There are 580 soldiers in the Irish Battalion, split into three companies which maintain observation posts and checkpoints on all main roads. Five of the Irish observation posts (OPs) are inside the strip of south Lebanon along the border with Israel that is occupied by the IDF and its surrogate local militia, the South Lebanon Army (SLA). Almost all the bombardment into south Lebanon comes from the Israeli-controlled area south of the Irish Battalion's location.
The site where Gen Gerstein was killed is only about 20 km west of the Irish HQ in Tibnin.
While the prospect of another Israeli bombardment has again brought the conflict in the area into the news, there has never been a let-up of low-level military activity in the area, much of it taking place around the Irish Battalion. Three weeks ago, two Irish soldiers on observation duty in the village of Haddathah narrowly escaped with their lives when a mortar fired by the Israeli-backed SLA landed near them.
Cpl Noel Roche and Pte John Flaherty both received shrapnel wounds but are both back on duty.
The Defence Forces have maintained a battalion presence with UNIFIL (UN Interim Force in Lebanon) for almost 21 years and have lost 13 soldiers killed in action. The current Battalion, the 84th, is commanded by Lt Col Senan Downes and his second-in-command is Cmdt Con McNamara. The UNIFIL Mobile Force Reserve, which provides armoured support for the international infantry battalions, is commanded by another Irish officer, Lt Col Niall Daly.