Israel holds Lebanon responsible for shooting dead of soldier

Israel has demanded explanations from Lebanon after the shooting to death of an Israeli soldier on the border by a lone Lebanese soldier on Sunday night.

Israeli defence minister Moshe Ya’alon said that Israel regards “the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army as responsible for what happens on their side”.

Israeli and Lebanese liaison officers, along with peacekeepers of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil), met yesterday and the Lebanese representative made it clear that the sniper acted on his own and had not received orders to open fire. He clarified that Beirut does not seek a military escalation on the border.

"We will demand of the Lebanese army first of all an explanation as to what happened and whether this was indeed a rogue soldier; what they have done with him, and what the Lebanese army plans to do in order to prevent incidents of this kind," Mr Ya'alon said.
The shooting occurred as the Israeli soldier was driving towards a military outpost on the border to deliver communications equipment. The Lebanese soldier fired about 10 bullets at the vehicle using thick vegetation as cover. The Israeli military were investigating why the soldier was travelling alone, close to the border in a non-armoured vehicle in defiance of standing orders.

The Lebanese soldier apparently acted alone and his motivation is unclear. He disappeared from his base after the incident but returned yesterday and was being questioned by Lebanese officers.

A few hours after the shooting Israeli forces opened fire on two Lebanese soldiers, who were described as acting suspiciously, hitting one of them, but an Israeli military spokesman said this was not in retaliation for the earlier incident.

Israeli planes also flew over southern Lebanon.

Israel conveyed a severe protest to the United Nations over “this outrageous breach of Israel’s sovereignty” and beefed up its presence along the border.

UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon said in a statement that Israel and Lebanon were "co-operating with the United Nations to ascertain the facts". He urged both sides to exercise restraint, as did Unifil.
Since the 2006 second Lebanese war between Israel and Hizbullah, the border has experienced only sporadic violence. Israel has responded with air strikes and artillery fire following a number of cross-border rocket attacks and shootings.

Israeli military sources said there is no indication the Lebanese soldier was linked to Hizbullah, and it is unlikely the organisation, heavily involved in the fighting in Syria, would be interested in stirring up tensions on the border with Israel.