The United Nations yesterday called for restraint between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah resistance movement and warned of the risk of escalating violence on the Lebanese-Israeli frontier after clashes in which three people died. "As we have stated many times in the past, one violation (of the cease-fire there) does not justify another. Indeed, as we have seen, such actions lead to possible escalation which is clearly not in the interest of either party," said Staffan de Mistura, the personal envoy in Lebanon of UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Two Israeli soldiers and a Hezbollah militiaman were killed on Tuesday as air raids and gunbattles raged across the volatile Israel-Lebanon border. The UN is "seriously concerned at the negative turn of events over the last two days that has heightened tension considerably along the Blue Line and in Lebanon in general," the envoy added in a statement. The Blue Line was laid out by the UN to serve as the frontier between Israel and Lebanon after the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon in May 2000. "We now call, again, on all parties to exercise maximum restrain to restore calm and to abide by the commitments to maintain such calm," the statement added. The Israeli Army was probing the killing of two of its soldiers yesterday as the senior officer for the northern command issued a warning to Syria if attacks continue. |