JERUSALEM, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli army said on Thursday it had arrested an unarmed Lebanese civilian after he crossed the border fence from Lebanon to Israel.

The military issued a statement saying "troops apprehended a suspect who crossed from Lebanon into Israel," after monitoring him through cameras and other observation means throughout the incident.

"No weapon was found in the suspect's possession and he was transferred to security forces for further questioning," the statement added.

Israel and Lebanon are enemy countries with a highly secured border fence separating between them.

Tensions across the border were high over the past months in the wake of Israel's Northern Sheild operation to locate and destroy cross-border tunnels allegedly built by the Iran-backed Lebanese militia of Hezbollah.

It was the third time in two weeks that a Lebanese national illegally cross the border. Earlier in February, an unarmed man crossed from Lebanon into Israel and was arrested and questioned by Israel's security forces. He was returned to Lebanon two days later.

In a separate incident, two men were arrested after crossing from the village of Ghajar in southern Lebanon attempting to smuggle 11 kg of Hashish, Israel said. They were arrested and handed over to Lebanon's police.