US Forces Arrive in Israel as Tensions Rise between Tel Aviv, Beirut

US forces have arrived in Israel to take part in Juniper Cobra, a biennial major military exercise, Sputnik reported.

In the last Juniper Cobra in 2016, more than 3,000 US troops took part, according to a report by Jerusalem Online.

The exercise will imitate a massive simultaneous missile attack on Israel from Southern and Northern fronts, according to Channel 10 News Agency.

This year, the exercise comes amid escalating tensions with Lebanon-based Hezbollah, which threatened to fire missiles at Israel if it doesn't stop building a wall on its Lebanese border.

In the meantime, Lebanon's energy minister Cesar Abi Khalil claimed that Lebanon will explore oil and gas near its maritime border with Israel. This territory has been claimed by Tel Aviv, an action that sparked massive condemnation across the Arab world, according to Washington Post.

Addressing the Institute for National Security Studies at Tel Aviv University on Wednesday, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Lebanon's latest plans to drill in a disputed offshore oil and gas field known as Block 9 were "very, very challenging and provocative," according to Reuters.

In the same speech, the far-right minister threatened to wage a full-scale war against Lebanon if Hezbollah launched any attacks against Israel, Reuters reported.