Lebanon Army comes under Israel fire

Israeli troops have fired at a Lebanese Army unit fortifying posts in the area of Doheira near Lebanon’s southern border, reports say.

“The army received around fourteen Israeli bullets in the area where they are positioned in Doheira,” dpa quoted a Lebanese security source as saying.

“The Lebanese Army did not respond, and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon intervened to contain the situation,” an unnamed military spokesman was quoted by AFP as saying.

“There were no casualties,” noted the Lebanese source.

The military spokesman, however, said that “the situation has not yet been resolved.”

Lebanese soldiers likewise assumed a state of combat readiness on Wednesday, when an Israeli military bulldozer reportedly entered the Lebanese territory.

The provocations follow a notable aggravation of the tense regional situation caused by the Israeli troops’ violating the Lebanese soil and triggering an exchange of fire with the Lebanese Army on August 17. The incident killed three Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and one senior Israeli Army officer.

The deadly incursion marked its worst since the Israeli war on Lebanon in 2006, which killed about 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians.

Lebanon’s airspace is also violated by Israeli aircraft on an almost daily basis.

The Lebanese resistance movement, Hezbollah, which defended the country against a 2000 Israeli war as well as the 2006 offensives, has said it would retaliate, should Israel launch a new offensive against Lebanon.