UNIFIL Urges 'Maximum Restraint' after Lebanon-Israel Border 'Clashes'
United Nations peacekeeping force UNIFIL called for "maximum restraint" after clashes were reported Monday on the border between Lebanon and Israel, adding the firing had stopped.
An AFP correspondent reported Israeli artillery bombardment on the hills of Kfarshouba in the Shebaa Farms area near the Israeli position of Roueysaat al-Alam, and reported plumes of smoke rising above the area.
Lebanon and Israel are still technically at war and UNIFIL usually patrols the border between the two.
"Major General (Stefano) Del Col has been in contact with both parties to assess the situation and decrease tension while urging maximum restraint," UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said.
"The firing has now stopped," he added.
Hizbullah, which has a large presence in the area, issued no immediate statement on Monday's incident.
But its Al-Manar television channel said calm had returned to the area.
Media reports meanwhile said that Hizbullah is expected to issue a statement on the developments.
Israel said it repelled an attempt by "terrorists" to penetrate its territory, opening fire on the gunmen just after they crossed the frontier with Lebanon.
It said a group of three to five men armed with rifles crossed the Blue Line in the Shebaa Farms area.
Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said spotters had tracked the group as they approached the border.
"Once they crossed the border, we engaged," he said.
"We confirmed visually that the terrorists fled back to Lebanon," he added.
There were no reported casualties among Israeli forces, Conricus said.
Details on any casualties from the Lebanese side were not immediately available.
While Conricus did not blame the alleged infiltration attempt on Hizbullah, Israeli army Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said the suspected operation was carried out by a "Hizbullah cell."
Monday's reported border exchange comes a week after an Israeli missile attack hit positions of Syrian regime forces and their allies south of Damascus on July 20, killing five. Hizbullah said one of its own died in the raid.
Hizbullah number two Sheikh Naim Qassem said in a televised interview on Sunday that "if the Israelis decide to launch a war, we will confront it and we will respond."
"What happened in Syria is an aggression, which led to the death of Ali Kamil Mohsen," he said of last weeks' strikes.
Israel has launched hundreds of strikes in Syria since the start of the country's civil war in 2011.
Israel and Hizbullah last fought a 33-day war in Lebanon in the summer of 2006.
Source: Agence France Presse, Naharnet
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