Lebanon, August 04: Lebanese and Israeli troops traded fire Tuesday along their tense border in the fiercest clashes since a 2006 war, with two Lebanese soldiers, a journalist and a senior Israeli officer killed.
Each side blamed the other for causing the fight, with the Lebanese army acknowledging that it fired first.
A statement by the Lebanese army said troops opened fire on the Israelis after “a patrol crossed the technical (border) fence.”
“The patrol did not stop despite UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon) attempts to stop it, and the Lebanese army confronted the troops with gunfire and RPGs,” the statement said.
An army spokesman said the Israelis were attempting to uproot a tree on the Lebanese side.
Earlier reports had said three Lebanese soldiers had died but the armylater put the death toll at two.
Six hours after the clashes began at around noon (0900 GMT) near the village of Adaysseh, the area was reported to be quiet.
Lebanese President Michel Sleiman met top defence officials and decided to file a complaint with the UN Security council, whose members were to meet later in the day for private consulations on the incident.
Meanwhile, General Said Eid, chief of the country’s top defence council, said Lebanon stands ready to face Israeli aggression “by all available means.”
“After consultations, the council has … given instructions to face all aggression on our territory, army and people by all available means and no matter the sacrifices,” he said.
And Prime Minister Saad Hariri called various leaders, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy, to denounce the Israeli “aggression.”
The “violation of Lebanese sovereignty and demands … the United Nations and the international community bear their responsibilities and pressure Israel to stop its aggression,” a statement from Hariri’s office said.
The Israeli foreign ministry responded with equal force.
“Israel sees the government of Lebanon as responsible for this grave incident and warns of the consequences in the event that disturbances of this kind continue,” it said.
Israel’s military blamed Lebanon for the fighting.
“Full responsibility for the incident and its consequences lies with the Lebanese army, which disrupted the calm in the area,” it said in a statement.
“During the afternoon, the Lebanese army opened fire towards an IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) position along the Lebanese border in northern Israel. The force was in Israeli territory, carrying out routine maintenance and was pre-coordinated with UNIFIL,” it said, referring to the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon.
UNIFIL did not immediately respond to the Israeli claim.
The army named the dead Israeli officer as Lieutenant Colonel Dov Harari, 45, a battalion commander. It also said a captain had been critically wounded.
Tuesday’s clashes marked the deadliest incident along the border since the devastating war between the Shiite militant group Hezbollah and Israel.
Hezbollah took no part in Tuesday’s fighting, which erupted in its stronghold.
The group’s chief, Hassan Nasrallah, was expected to address the incident in an already scheduled speech on Tuesday night.
The UN force urged “maximum restraint” following the clashes along the so-called Blue Line, a UN-drawn border.
“Our immediate priority at this time is to restore calm in the area,” spokesman Neeraj Singh told AFP.
He said acting force commander Brigadier General Santi Bonfanti had flown to the site of the clashes and had personally called on both parties to “stop firing in all the area”.
“UNIFIL’s immediate priority is to consolidate the calm and we are urging both parties to exercise maximum restraint,” Singh added.
Syria condemned what it said was Israel’s “heinous aggression.”
“President Bashar al-Assad … telephoned Lebanese President Michel Sleiman and expressed Syria’s support for Lebanon against the heinous aggression launched by Israel on Lebanon,” state news agency SANA reported.
“President Assad considers that this aggression proves once more that Israel has always been seeking to destabilise security and stability in Lebanon and the region,” SANA said.
Adaysseh is located about 30 kilometres (19 miles) east of the coastal city of Tyre.
Large swathes of southern Lebanon were destroyed in the 2006 war, which killed 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
Tension in the region has been mounting in recent months following reports Hezbollah was stockpiling weapons in preparation for a new war.
—Agencies