BN : Gun fire on Lebanese-Israeli border !(updates only)

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Source: MSN arabia news
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UN boosts border presence after Israeli-Lebanese clash




UN peacekeepers have beefed up their presence on the volatile Lebanese-Israeli border after a clash between the armies of both sides, the first such incident in about three decades.
Dozens of Italian and French soldiers deployed on the border after the first direct clash involving the Lebanese army, which moved into the area after Israel's 34-day war with Lebanese Shiite Muslim militants last summer.
The peacekeepers, backed by armoured vehicles, took up position along a five-kilometre (three-mile) stretch between the villages of Yaroun and Maroun ar-Ras, near where the shooting took place overnight.
Late on Wednesday Lebanese and Israeli troops exchanged fire across the border, causing no casualties. The incident was sparked by Israeli sappers moving towards the Lebanon border to clear unexploded ordnance.
Israeli aircraft overflew the eastern sector of the border after the incident, public television reported, and the area was lit intermittently by flares.
A spokesman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) described the incident as serious.
"In a serious incident last night, the Lebanese army and IDF (Israeli Defence Force) exchanged fire across the Blue Line in the area of Maroun ar-Ras," spokesman Milos Strugar said Thursday.
"The exchange was initiated by the Lebanese army after an IDF bulldozer crossed the technical fence in an apparent attempt to clear the area between the technical fence and the Blue Line of mines."
He said UNIFIL commander Major General Claudio Graziano had urged both sides to cease hostilities, which they did. "UNIFIL troops have been deployed in the area," Strugar added.
An Israeli army spokesman said the sappers withdrew early on Thursday after completing their mission.
"The Lebanese army first fired warning shots. We asked them through UNIFIL to stop shooting. Shots were fired in the direction of our forces," an Israeli army spokesman told AFP.
"We retaliated in the direction of the shots. Our forces had no injuries."
"The firing has now finished and we consider the incident closed," he added.
A Lebanese security source confirmed that the Lebanese army had fired at Israeli troops on the border.
"The Lebanese army fired on an Israeli bulldozer that was trying to advance towards the central sector of southern Lebanon" near Yaroun, the source said without elaborating.
Lebanese security sources earlier on Wednesday said their troops were on high alert after Israeli sappers moved just across the border.
Two Israeli demining vehicles accompanied by Merkava tanks were seen approaching the border near Yaroun, south of the town of Bint Jbeil, prompting the army to deploy reinforcements, the sources said.
An Israeli military spokesman said the sappers were clearing a zone where four unexploded bombs were found on the Israeli side on Monday.
Israeli officials said the mines had been planted recently by Hezbollah, but it said they predated last summer's war.
"An engineering unit is carrying out clearing work in this sector in Israeli territory, south of the blue line, where four explosive charges were found on Monday," an Israeli army spokesman told AFP.
Lieutenant-Colonel Gai Hazut, responsible for operations in the northern Galilee division, said: "These charges were freshly laid under cover of mist and rain in the past days."
But Hezbollah insisted on Tuesday that the charges dated from before the war, which ended with a UN-brokered ceasefire last August 14.
A strengthened 12,000-strong UN peacekeeping force is patrolling the volatile border area along with Lebanese soldiers under the terms of the truce.
Wednesday's was the first clash between Israeli and Lebanese soldiers on the border in decades, as Lebanese troops deployed there for the first time in about 30 years.

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Source: wa3ad.org
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سلاح الجو الاسرائيلي سيزيد عدد طلعاته الجوية فوق لبنان

اعلن جنرال في جيش الاحتلال الاسرائيلي ان سلاح الجو الاسرائيلي سيزيد عدد طلعاته الجوية فوق لبنان. وقال الجنرال الون فريدمان، رئيس اركان قيادة ما يسمى بمنطقة الشمال انهم سيواصلون طلعاتهم وسيعززون نشاطاتهم الجوية فوق لبنان. واضاف فريدمان "ان الهدوء يجب ان يعود ونستعد لكل السيناريوهات". واعلنت اذاعة العدو ان رئيس الوزراء ايهود اولمرت ووزير الحرب عمير بيريتس سيجريان محادثات بشأن لبنان مع مسؤولين عسكريين واعضاء في الحكومة الامنية. وأدى اشتباك محدود بين وحدة من الجيش اللبناني وقوات إسرائيلية حاولت التقدم داخل الاراضي اللبنانية الى استنفار كبير في المنطقة، بعد إصابة جرافة إسرائيلية وملالة للجيش اللبناني. وتتحجج قوات الاحتلال الاسرائيلية بوجود قواعد لحزب الله على بعد امتار من الحدود

أجرى رئيس مجلس النواب نبيه بري، صباح اليوم، إتصالا هاتفيا بقائد الجيش العماد ميشال سليمان وهنأه على تصدي الجيش اللبناني للخرق الاسرائيلي للحدود، كما هنأه بسلامة العودة بعد زيارته لإيطاليا.