Israel, Lebanon trade blame for border clash (1st Lead)

Aug 4, 2010, 9:42 GMT

Tel Aviv/Beirut - A tense calm prevailed at the Israel- Lebanon border Wednesday, as both countries' army's accused each other of provoking a rare exchange of fire that sparked fears of a new flare up violence in the volatile area.

The exchange Tuesday killed two Lebanese troops, an Israeli commander and a Lebanese journalist with al-Akhbar a newspaper close to the radical Shiite Hezbollah organization.

Israeli troops Wednesday picked up the maintenance work they had left unfinished because of the clash, which erupted as an Israeli force cleared vegetation near the border fence for improved vision.

'Israeli troops were seen redeploying along with a bulldozer near Addisseyh, the area where they were working on Tuesday,' a Lebanese Army source told the German Press Agency dpa.

The source said 'we are watching the situation closely and coordinating with the UN forces in the area.'

'We will retaliate in the event of a new Israeli aggression,' he warned.

An Israeli army spokeswoman in Tel Aviv confirmed the soldiers had resumed their work.

The Lebanese Army source admitted its troops had opened fire first at the Israeli force working along the border.

But, he added, 'only after the Israeli troops ignored a request by the Lebanese army and UNIFIL (the United Nations force in southern Lebanon) to withdraw from the area.'

He said 'the Israeli army was violating Lebanese territory.'

Witnesses in the area said the Israeli troops uprooted three tress.

The Israeli military said its engineering force was on the Israeli side of the border when fired on, between the Israeli security fence and the internationally recognized 'blue line,' and had not violated Lebanese sovereignty by 'even one millimetre.'

One Israeli security official, speaking on condition of anonymity to Israel Radio, accused a Lebanese Army officer of having planned the incident as a provocation.

The official said the officer used information passed on to him by UNIFIL, and invited Lebanese media to the area in advance to document the 'ambush' against the Israeli force.

Israel said the force had given advance notice to UNIFIL, which in turn had briefed the Lebanese Army as required. The military published an aerial photograph, showing the Israeli clearing force was on the Israeli side of the internationally recognized 'Blue Line.'

UNIFIL sources said 'they are still investigating the incident from yesterday to verify if Israel has violated the Lebanese territories.'

Five more Lebanese soldiers were wounded, two of them seriously, and an Israeli reserve captain was critically wounded. A piece of shrapnel was removed from his heart overnight, officials at Rambam hospital in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa said.

The flare-up was unusual, with Israeli troops trading fire with the Lebanese Army, instead of with gunmen from the Iran-backed Hezbollah, which has a strong presence in the area.

Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah late Tuesday described the lethal border clash as 'heroic.'

Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri, on vacation in Italy, slammed Israel's 'aggression' against his country.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry said Israel views the clash as a 'clear violation' of UN Security Council resolution 1701, which ended a deadly 33-day clash between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

The 15-country Security Council held a closed meeting later Tuesday on the border clash, with members calling 'for utmost restraint' and for both sides to abide by resolution 1701.

The US State Department and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton have expressed concern and urged both Israel and Lebanon to take steps to ease tensions and to investigate the incident.