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<font size=4><b>Troops die in Israel-Lebanon clash <br><br>
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<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/08/20108310240207599.html" eudora="autourl">
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/08/20108310240207599.html<br>
<br>
</a>Tuesday, August 03, 2010 <br>
A<br>
t least three Lebanese and one Israeli soldier have been killed during an
exchange of rocket and gunfire along the border between the two
countries.<br><br>
A journalist was also killed, and four more Lebanese soldiers wounded by
Israeli shelling on Tuesday. The Israeli army did not say how the Israeli
soldier was killed.<br><br>
"The Israelis fired four rockets that fell near a Lebanese army
position in the village of Adaisseh and the Lebanese army fired
back," a Lebanese security official in the area said.<br><br>
Lebanese news sources reported that the journalist killed was Assaf Abou
Rahhal, from the Lebanese newspaper <i>Al-Akhbar</i>.<br><br>
The clashes erupted after Israeli soldiers reportedly attempted to uproot
trees on the Lebanese side of the border.<br><br>
<b>'Maximum restraint'<br><br>
</b>A spokesman for Unifil, the United Nations peacekeeping force in
southern Lebanon, confirmed the fighting and urged both sides to use
"maximum restraint".<br>
<img src="http://english.aljazeera.net/mritems/Images//2009/2/5/200925104943702580_3.jpg" alt="[]">
<br><br>
"Unifil peacekeepers are in the area and are trying to ascertain the
circumstances of the incident and any possible casualties," Neeraj
Singh said. <br><br>
"Our immediate priority at this time is to restore calm in the
area."<br><br>
The United Nations Security Council held a brief meeting about the
skirmish on Tuesday afternoon. It concluded without any official
statement; Alain Le Roy, the head of UN peacekeeping operations, said the
UN was still investigating.<br><br>
Saad Hariri, the Lebanese prime minister, called the raid a
"violation of Lebanese sovereignty and demands".<br><br>
He called in a statement for "the United Nations and the
international community bear their responsibilities and pressure Israel
to stop its aggression."<br><br>
Michel Sleiman, the Lebanese president, issued his own statement
denouncing the clash as a violation of UN resolution 1701. That
resolution ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, and called
for both Israel and Lebanon to respect the Blue Line, the UN-administered
border between the two countries.<br><br>
Sleiman also called on the Lebanese army to "confront any Israeli
aggression, whatever the sacrifices".<br><br>
"This is a very significant development," said Rula Amin, Al
Jazeera's correspondent in Beirut. "For the first time in years,
clashes are taking place between Israel and the Lebanese army, not
Hezbollah."<br><br>
Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, said
<a href="http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/08/20108317523512622.html">
in a speech on Tuesday night</a> that he ordered the group's militia not
to get involved. He also threatened to retaliate against any future
"Israeli aggression".<br><br>
<b>Roots of conflict<br><br>
</b>General Gadi Eisenkot, the head of Israel's northern command,
predicted the clashes were a "one-time event".<br><br>
Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli foreign minister, said Israel "holds
the Lebanese government responsible" for the incident, and asked the
Israeli envoy to the UN to file a complaint.<br><br>
The fighting reportedly started when a group of Israeli army soldiers
went close to the border to uproot some trees near the villages of
Adaisseh and Kuferkilla.<br><br>
Israeli security sources said that Israeli army engineers came under fire
from Lebanese soldiers while working along the frontier and the troops
shot back.<br><br>
<br>
In a statement, the Israeli military said its soldiers came under fire
while they were "on routine activity in Israeli territory in an area
that lies between the blue line [the internationally recognised border
between Israel and Lebanon] and the security fence, thus within Israeli
territory".<br><br>
Jacky Rowland, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Jerusalem, said "the
overall picture that seems to be emerging from Israeli television reports
is that the whole incident seems to have started over some
misunderstanding".<br><br>
"There was some kind of Israeli incursion perceived ... to have
crossed over into Lebanese territory" which precipitated the
exchange of fire, Rowland said.<br><br>
Israeli TV has reported that Hezbollah was not involved in the
skirmish.<br><br>
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