Israeli soldiers at the Lebanese border opened fire at alleged Hezbollah activists on Saturday the first such incident since Israel launched a crackdown on cross-border tunnels the military said.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency however said the Israeli soldiers shot into the air when they saw a Lebanese army patrol near the border demarcation known as the “Blue Line”.
Israeli sources said the suspects approached an area on the Israeli side of the border where its forces were carrying out an operation to shut down tunnels that were allegedly dug across the border by Hezbollah.
Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus told reporters that three civilian-dressed individuals identified as Hezbollah operatives tried to use the heavy fog and rain in the area “to approach and interfere with or to take sensors” that had been deployed there by the army.
But Lebanon gave a different account of the incident. “Israeli enemy soldiers shot into the air following their deployment near the Blue Line in Kroum al-Sharaqi region to the east of Meis al-Jabal village” NNA said.
The Israelis “were surprised due to thick fog by a routine Lebanese army patrol inside the Lebanese territories” it added.
Israel’s military claimed on Tuesday it had found passages dug across the Israel-Lebanon border to be used for carrying out attacks inside Israel. It sent mechanical diggers troops and anti-tunneling equipment there to shut them down.
The Israeli military has said its activity would for now stop on the Israeli side of the border. But a cabinet minister said on Friday that Israel was prepared to take action in Lebanon against cross-border tunnels if deemed necessary.
