Spanish U.N. Soldier Killed by Israeli Retaliatory Fire after Shebaa Attack

A U.N. peacekeeper from Spain was killed on Wednesday when the Israeli military shelled border areas following a Hizbullah attack that left two Israeli soldiers dead.

A 36-year-old corporal "died this morning during incidents between Hizbullah and the Israeli army in the area of responsibility of the Spanish contingent", the Spanish defense ministry said in a statement.

In an official statement, UNIFIL said one of its peacekeepers deployed at a U.N. position near Ghajar “sustained serious injuries that resulted in his death.”

“The precise cause of death is as yet undetermined and remains the subject of investigation,” it added.

Meanwhile, Israel's Yediot Ahronot newspaper quoted a senior Israeli army official as saying that the Spanish peacekeeper was killed by “one of the mortar shells that we launched.”

“We were in immediate contact with the U.N. We regret the incident and will investigate it. We will draw conclusions – we have no intention to harm U.N. forces,” the official added.

The soldier was part of the 10,000-strong United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, which includes 600 Spanish soldiers.

Spain's Defense Minister Pedro Morenes, who was flying to India for a three-day visit, canceled the trip and returned to Spain mid-flight, the ministry said.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy expressed on Twitter his "great sadness at the death of a Spanish soldier in Lebanon."

Israel responded with air and ground attacks on southern Lebanon after a Hizbullah missile attack killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded seven others in the occupied Shebaa Farms.

UNIFIL has been deployed in south Lebanon since 1978.

Its ranks were reinforced after the 2006 war between Israel and Hizbullah that killed 1,200 Lebanese, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.

Y.R.