Israel said on Thursday it hoped to avoid further fighting along the Lebanon border following a clash with the Lebanese army but cautioned that it would not tolerate hostile activity against Israeli forces.
Israeli and Lebanese soldiers exchanged fire on Wednesday after Lebanese troops shot in the air as an Israeli patrol crossed a security fence near the border to search for explosives planted by Hezbollah guerrillas. No one was hurt.
“We do not want to cause an escalation, but the Israel Defense Forces will have to respond where dangerous shooting takes place,” the Defense Ministry said in a statement after Defense Minister Amir Peretz discussed the incident with top generals.
It was the first such clash since Lebanon deployed regular forces along the frontier as part of a U.N.-brokered cease-fire that ended a 34-day war last year between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. The border has been largely quiet since then.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Paris was calling on the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon to clarify the circumstances of the incident.
“I am also calling on both armies to abstain from all aggressive acts today. It is important now not to revive tensions on either side of the blue line,” he told RFI radio on Thursday.
Israeli bulldozer sparks exchange of fire
A spokesman for UNIFIL, the U.N. force, said the exchange was initiated by the Lebanese army after an Israeli bulldozer crossed the border fence “in an apparent attempt to clear mines between the Blue Line (border) and the fence”.
Israeli Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh said the bulldozer was operating inside Israel, which built the security fence several meters south of the international border.
The Lebanese army said the bulldozer had crossed 50 feet into Lebanese territory.
Witnesses said the area was quiet on Thursday with a big UNIFIL presence, mostly French soldiers, deployed there. About half a dozen Leclerc tanks have also been deployed.
Israel had ordered searches in the area after discovering four explosive devices on the border on Monday. Israeli officials accused Hezbollah of planting the bombs recently, but the group said it placed them before the July-August war.
“What’s important to us is that our policy is clear to everyone. We do not intend to ignore any act of aggression or provocation. Planting explosive devices inside Israeli territory is provocation,” Sneh told Israel Radio.
