LEBANESE AND Israeli troops exchanged fire yesterday on the border between their countries, resulting in the deaths of three Lebanese soldiers and a local journalist and the wounding of two Israeli soldiers.
An Israeli officer was also reported killed.
This was the most serious clash along the frontier since Israel’s 34-day war in 2006 and the first armed encounter between Lebanese and Israeli soldiers since the Lebanese army deployed in the south in 2006 after an absence of more than three decades.
Following the clash Israeli prime minister Binjamin Netanyahu warned Lebanon, saying that Israel held the Lebanese government “directly accountable for this violent provocation”.
Defence minister Ehud Barak said Israel would not tolerate any attacks on soldiers or citizens “within its sovereign territory” and called on the international community to condemn the “criminal act carried out by the Lebanese army”.
The military spokesman issued a statement stressing that the Israeli force that came under Lebanese sniper fire was in Israeli territory, carrying out routine maintenance work that was co-ordinated with Unifil.
The incident occurred west of the internationally recognised “Blue Line” border between Israel and Lebanon, and east of the security fence, and thus in Israeli territory.
Israel’s UN ambassador, Gabriela Shalev, lodged a complaint at the security council over “the severe violation” of UN security council resolution 1701, which ended the second Lebanon war four years ago.
Israel described the clash as the latest in a series of violations, “the most severe of which is the massive rearmament of Hizbullah, including Hizbullah units in south Lebanon.
According to the Lebanese army, its soldiers fired warning shots at Israeli troops trying to uproot a tree using a large crane near the village of Adeisseyeh on the Lebanese side of the frontier.
An Israeli spokesman said Israeli troops were fired upon as they were conducting maintenance work on a fence within Israeli territory.
Lebanese president Michel Suleiman condemned the Israeli action, which, he said, contravened UN resolution 1701 which ended the 2006 war.
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad telephoned Mr Suleiman and expressed his support for Lebanon. Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman blamed the Lebanese government for the clash.
Tensions have escalated since spring when Israel accused Syria of smuggling Scud missiles and other munitions to the Hizbullah movement, regarded by Israel as one of its main enemies in the region.
The clash coincided with reports that a Lebanese army colonel was arrested on the weekend on allegations of spying for Israel.
On Monday, a fire mysteriously engulfed the Beirut home of Tareq Rabaa, an engineer employed by the state-owned Alfa mobile company, detained last month along with colleague Charbel Qazzi on suspicion of acting as Israeli agents.
At least one more employee of the company was arrested while five others, including a former army officer, fled the country. A long-distance operator working for the country’s landline firm, Ogero, and a German engineer were also detained. Since April 2009, Lebanon has rounded up more than 70 people accused of providing sensitive intelligence to Israel.