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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Lebanon-Israel border shooting sparks tensions |
| 2013-12-16 |
| The Israeli and Lebanese armies were on high alert on Sunday evening after an Israeli soldier was killed by a Lebanese soldier who opened fire across the border into Israel. Reports from Lebanon said a Lebanese soldier was missing, believed captured, by the Israeli army. Israel complained to the United Nations force in Lebanon which said it would investigate the incident. The incident happened at around 8.30pm local time near the Israeli village of Rosh Hanikra and the Lebanese village of Naqoura. The Israeli army said it had confirmed that the sniper is a member of the Lebanese armed forces. Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for UN forces in southern Lebanon, said the UN was informed of a "serious incident along the blue line around Ras Naqoura". He said the UN is in contact with both the Lebanese and Israeli armies, and that they are co-operating. "The incident happened on the Israeli side of the blue line," he said, referring to a UN-drawn line demarcating the border between the two states, which have remained technically at war since 1948. Tenenti said the UN interim force in Lebanon, Unifil, was trying to determine exactly what happened. Israel's defence spokesman, Lieutenant Colonel Peter Lerner, said: "The IDF has protested this outrageous breach of Israel's sovereignty with Unifil and has heightened its state of preparedness along the border. We will not tolerate aggression against the state of Israel, and maintain the right to exercise self-defence against perpetrators of attacks against Israel and its civilians." In the past year, six Israeli soldiers have been injured in explosions along the Lebanese border although it was not clear whether the incidents were accidents. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Israel is apparently NOT amused or intimidated. Two Leb soldiers got shot back |
| Posted by: Frank G 2013-12-16 10:01 |