Israeli machine guns go missing on Lebanon border

Two Israeli machine guns went missing on the Lebanese border on Saturday evening, as tensions with the militant Hizballah organisation continue to rise.

The weapons appear to have been stolen after being left unattended close to the border, Israeli media reported, where a series of Hizballah tunnels were recently discovered.

Israeli police have launched an investigation into the matter, with officers searching the area for the machine guns, which were attached to a cannon, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Earlier on Saturday, Israeli troops fired over the border after the area became submerged with fog and claimed suspected Hizballah fighters were spotted approaching the frontier.

Israel claimed a series of Hizballah tunnels have been uncovered close to the UN-administered Blue Line border area.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu informed Russian President Vladimir Putin about Israel's military operations in the area. Moscow has worked with Hizballah - a bitter enemy of Israel - in Syria against the opposition.

Israel launched an operation dubbed "Northern Shield" on Tuesday to destroy tunnels it said were dug across the border by Hizballah.

Peacekeeping force UNIFIL confirmed the presence of a tunnel in northern Israel near the Lebanese border on Thursday.

On Tuesday, the military released footage - allegedly from inside one of the tunnels - which still had Hizballah members inside. 

Israel's army on Friday revealed that it has been using "passive seismic" technology to find the cross-border tunnels throughout the Israel-Lebanon border area.

The technology reportedly uses ground sensors to relay information to sensors on the border fence and to patrol vehicles.

It is believed that Israel has known about the existence of cross-border tunnels for years.