Five dead as Lebanese, Israeli troops clash at border

Three soldiers were killed Tuesday as Lebanese and Israeli Armies exchanged fire close to the Blue Line, security officials said. A journalist also died in the fighting.

The incident erupted in the southern village of Adaysseh, where Lebanese Army soldiers fired warning shots at a nearby Israeli patrol, who were attempting to cut down a tree on the Lebanese side of the technical fence, the Army said. The Israel patrol responded with rocket salvos. The situation quickly escalated with an Israeli helicopter gunship firing at a

Lebanese Army armored vehicle.

Witnesses and Army officials confirmed that three soldiers had died, in addition to several civilian wounded. An Israeli officer was killed, and a second Lebanese journalist injured as the fighting worsened.

New TV named the dead reporter as Assaf Abou Rahhal, who worked for Al-Akhbar newspaper.

"The Israelis fired four rockets that fell near a Lebanese army position in the village of Adaysseh and the Lebanese army fired back," a security official in the area told AFP, adding that two houses were damaged by the rockets.

A Lebanese army spokesperson said the clashes erupted after Israeli soldiers attempted to uproot a tree on the Lebanese side of the fenced border.

"The Israelis began to fire and we responded," he said. However, Israeli police deny reports that the two rockets were fired from Lebanon into northern Israel.

Israeli military Spokesman Captain Barak Raz said the fighting broke out as soldiers were on a routine patrol. He said the force was inside Israeli territory when it came under fire.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) tried to contain the situation before it deteriorated.

“There has been an exchange of fire between the Lebanese army and the Israeli army along the Blue Line in the general area of Adaysseh,” UNIFIL Spokesperson Neeraj Singh said.

“Our immediate priority at this time is to restore calm in the area,” he said, calling for both parties to exercise “maximum restraint.”

Prime Minister Saad Hariri, President Michel Sleiman and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, all condemned Israel for violating UN Security Council resolution 1701, which stipulates Lebanon’s sovereign borders not be breached.

"(There is) a necessity to repel any Israeli attempt of aggression no matter what the circumstances," Sleiman said. Army Commander General Jean Kahwaji praised his troops’ response to Israeli provocation.

Israel announced it held the Lebanese government “fully responsible” for the incident and added it was to complain to the UN for what it too considered a breach of international law.

The exchange of fire is the most serious since the end of the July 2006 War between Hizbullah and Israel, which killed more than 1200 Lebanese – mainly civilians – and 160 Israelis, mainly soldiers.

The specter of renewed conflict along the UN-demarcated Blue Line has heightened recently, with threats being exchanged and violations of Lebanese airspace by Israeli warplanes continuing on a near-daily basis.

The Daily Star