Lebanon Says Three Soldiers Killed in Clash with IDF

Lebanon said three of its soldiers and a journalist were killed in a rare clash with IDF forces at the northern border around noon Tuesday. None of the Israeli soldiers were injured.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said it holds the Lebanese government responsible for what it called a “grave incident” when the Lebanese army fired on the IDF while its troops were patrolling within the Blue Line that the UN has marked out as the international boundary.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman has instructed the Israeli diplomatic delegation to the United Nations to file a protest with the UN Secretary General and the Security Council. In a statement to media, he said that the IDF “was operating along the Lebanese border in coordination with UNIFIL.”

The Foreign Ministry added that the Lebanese fire was a severe violation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the 34-day-old Second Lebanon War four summers ago.

Lebanon claimed that the Israelis were operating in its territory and were trying to uproot a tree that blocked a lookout on a Lebanese village. Lebanon also alleged its Lebanese soldiers fired warning shots at the IDF, which allegedly responded with rocket-propelled grenades and tank fire.

Military spokesmen said that after the Lebanese army fired on the soldiers, the IDF “immediately returned fire with light arms and made use of artillery fire. Several minutes later an Israel Air Force helicopter fired at the Lebanese army battalion command center, damaging several LAF armored combat vehicles.”

Quiet has returned to the border, but Lebanese Prime Minister Sa’ad Hariri condemned what he called “Israeli aggression.”


(IsraelNationalNews.com)