“Troops backed by dozens of tanks have started to encircle Zabadani in a move aimed at storming the area,” insisted one activist. The town was the site of a week-long siege last month, which ended with a negotiated truce and the retreat of the Syrian military.

The deal left the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in de facto control of the town but included a call for them not to march through the streets. It appears they have been marching, and the fighting elsewhere in the country between FSA and government forces leaves little chance of even local truces holding.

Zabadani’s proximity to the Lebanese border makes it key for the FSA, as some 500 FSA defectors are reportedly inside Northern Lebanon and working as support for FSA fighters inside Syria.

The shells were only part of the mystery today, as Israeli warplanes also dropped an unidentified object into a ravine in southern Lebanon during the operations. Lebanese forces have been unable to get close to the object because the area is littered with Israeli cluster bomblets from the 2006 war.

The area hit with the shells was near the border, and likely was a case of accidental fire, though it is sure to raise questions as to why the operations were so close to the contested border to begin with, even if no injuries were reported. The area around the mystery object is likely unoccupied, since cluster bombs have rendered it uninhabitable.

Lebanon’s National News Agency was quoted as identifying the shells as 75 mm, 155 mm, and 175 mm artillery shells. Israel occupied the Shebaa Farms and Golan Heights in 1967, and claims it is now part of Israel.

The report is unique, as most information about the Free Syrian Army has related to their operations in Turkey, and the leadership is overwhelming operating out of Turkey, with support from the Turkish government.

The focus of the story was the Free Syrian Army trying to shill for western military backing, but also brings uncomfortable attention to Lebanon, which has been trying its darnedest to avoid getting swept up in the instability of its neighbor.

Syrian officials have repeatedly claimed militant factions were operating outside of Lebanon, fueling concern that border towns might face an invasion. Though Syria is probably in enough internal trouble now that such invasions are no longer as major of a threat, the confirmation of the reports could further fuel sectarian tensions inside Lebanon.

The CIA lost two spying rings in Beirut, Lebanon in mid-November, after Hezbollah discovered that the groups used the same prepaid cellphones and arranged their meetings at the same Beirut-area pizzeria using the codeword PIZZA.

One of the rings was focusing specifically on Hezbollah, while the other ring was said to have been targeting Iranian diplomats in the nation. Intelligence officials attributed the loss to “lazy” security.

The Hezbollah-dominated cabinet promised to use the intelligence gained in breaking the rings to significantly improve domestic security and prevent future spying. The MP’s comments suggest that they have been less than upfront, even within the party, on what that entails.

Hezbollah noticed that a series of prepaid cellphones used by the informants were only used rarely and only in very specific locations. They used this, along with the fact that the CIA always used the same codeword, PIZZA, to uncover and arrest the informants.

Underscoring just how bad an idea using the term “PIZZA” was, the informants were said to have always met at the same pizzeria. Reportedly it was a Pizza Hut in Beirut. The CIA has denied that it was actually a Pizza Hut, but declined to provide an alternative location.

One of the rings was reportedly specifically in Beirut to spy on Hezbollah and the other members of the Lebanese ruling coalition. The other ring was said to somehow target Iran’s nuclear program.

“I’m not threatening, but anyone with sense can see that,” Nasrallah said. He also expressed confidence that Iran would be capable of defending itself from any such attack.

The question of the cost of a prospective war on Iran is a major topic, not just because such threats have been coming with increasing regularity, but because hawkish officials within the Israeli government have sought to dramatically downplay those costs, with Defense Minister Ehud Barak insisting the overall Israeli casualties from a war with Iran would be “less than 500.”

Though this seemed to be a major talking point for the Netanyahu government, the common sense approach, as Nasrallah notes, is that it is untrue. A top Israeli investment firm discussing the possible attack concluded that the economic damage alone to an international attack on Iran would be so devastating that it was unlikely to happen.

Adding to the tension this time, however, are unconfirmed reports that the killings actually took place on Lebanese soil, and that the defectors had managed to cross the border before being caught and killed.

If true this will add considerably to the concerns over the border between Lebanon and Syria, which the Assad government has claimed is a smuggling hotbed and which Lebanese residents have claimed is being violated on a fairly regular basis.

The Lebanese Army insists that the killings took place inside Syria, but locals are disputing this account. At any rate, it has sparked more international calls for Syria to both stop killing people and to let them flee across the border, if they want to.

Residents are increasingly concerned that the moves across the border are a prelude to a full scale invasion of the town, which the Syrian military is concerned is the source of weapons smuggling to the opposition.

Border raids have happened several times, with tanks firing on Lebanese farmhouses and damaging buildings. The mayor said he believed it was the son of a local Hezbollah leader who was selling weapons to Syrians.

Lebanon’s current government is said to be on relatively good terms with the Assad regime, and was opposed to an Arab League effort to suspend their membership earlier today. Mayor Hojeiri complained that the government has not offered any help in defending the town from potential attack.

The exact details of the clash were unclear, but Lebanese officials reported that the Israeli troops had crossed the border before the exchange, while Israeli military officials termed it a “misunderstanding.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu didn’t see any misunderstanding, however, insisting that the Israeli troops “behaved like they were supposed to” in the shooting, and said that the troops were “determined to defend themselves.”

Israeli sources noted that it is routine for Israeli troops to patrol on the Lebanese side of the border fence, and that this tends to spark tensions from the Lebanese when they are caught doing so. The bigger story will likely be the international reaction, as the United States used the 2010 incident, in which one Lebanese soldier was killed, as an excuse to condemn the pro-US Hariri government, revoking all military aid for months. Now that the Hariri government has fallen to a less pro-US Mikati faction, the reaction will likely be even more harsh.

Mikati formed the current cabinet earlier this month amid threats from the US to revoke all aid to the country. Mikati’s faction took the place of a pro-US faction which lost a no-confidence vote earlier this year.

Ironically while Mikati’s faction includes Hezbollah, which is close with Syria and Iran, the biggest impact on the most recent national election was from the US, when Vice President Joe Biden rushed to the nation at the last minute to campaign for the Hariri bloc, warning Lebanese voters that choosing the Hezbollah-dominated faction would mean severe punishment.

The Hariri government’s US endorsement didn’t actually net it much support, however, as US officials repeatedly condemned the government and revoked much of their aid throughout the second half of 2010.