Israeli Force Opens Fire at Farmers in Maroun al-Ras
Israeli forces opened fire Monday from a border settlement at Lebanese farmers who were cultivating their land in the southern town of Maroun al-Ras.
“Israeli enemy forces opened fire from the Avivim settlement at farmers in the border town of Maroun al-Ras,” Lebanon's National News Agency reported, noting that no one was injured in the incident.
The farmers were “cultivating their land, which lies across the border from the aforementioned settlement,” NNA said.
The peasants fled to the town after the attack.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese army issued a statement saying the incident occurred at 2:00 p.m.
“The Israeli enemy fired three shots from an assault weapon towards some farmers who were in Lebanese territory and no one was hurt,” the army said.
It added that the incident was being investigated in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
In Israel, the public radio said “several warning gunshots were fired in the air” after “a group of five people was seen approaching the border fence.”
Israeli troops regularly cross the electronic fence and sometimes enter Lebanese territory through the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line, which was drawn up following Israel’s withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000 after a 22-year occupation.
The fence runs parallel to the Blue Line.
On January 28, two Israeli soldiers were killed and seven others wounded as Hizbullah waged a missile attack on their vehicles that were traveling inside the occupied Shebaa Farms.
Hizbullah said the operation was in response to a deadly Israeli air raid that killed six of its fighters, including prominent members, in Syria's Quneitra.
Israel fired retaliatory shells at southern Lebanon in the wake of the attack, killing a Spanish UNIFIL peacekeeper.
Y.R.
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