Israel says Lebanese Army not a target after killing soldier 'by mistake'
The Israeli army has said that it regrets having killed a Lebanese soldier on a military post near the southern border town of Odaisseh.
Israel's army acknowledged the incident, saying in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that it had targeted Tuesday a Hezbollah position in an effort "to eliminate an imminent threat".
"The Lebanese Armed Forces were not the target of the strike," the Israel Defense Forces said, adding it regretted the incident.
The Lebanon-Israel border has seen intensifying exchanges of fire since the war broke out between Hamas and Israel, mainly involving Hezbollah, raising fears of a broader conflagration.
On Tuesday, Israeli shelling also killed a Syrian labourer when it hit the chicken farm where he worked, according to Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) and a local official.
More than 110 people have been killed on the Lebanese side since October, mostly Hezbollah fighters and more than a dozen civilians, according to an AFP tally.
Israel says six of its soldiers and three Israeli civilians have been killed.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) says its headquarters in southern Lebanon has been hit by shelling several times.
Commenting on the Lebanese soldier's death, UNIFIL said in a statement: "The Lebanese Armed Forces have not engaged in conflict with Israel.
"During the last days, we have seen a rapid and alarming increase in violence," UNIFIL added, urging an end to "the cycle of violence, which could lead to devastating consequences for people on both sides."
Hezbollah has not had a visible military presence on Lebanon's southern border since the end of a 2006 conflict with Israel, but says it resumed activities in support of Hamas after its October 7 attack on Israel.
Lebanese peacekeepers have a presence on the border as part of the U.N. Security Council Resolution which ended the 2006 war.
Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said in a statement Tuesday that U.N.-sponsored talks were planned in the coming months, aimed at "reaching an agreement, via the U.N., about contested points along the border with the Israeli enemy".
"We hope that in the next three months we will reach a stage of total stability on our borders," Mikati added.
06 December 2023, 17:24
12
Liars. The same demons that gladly target children and journalists have no problem with killing a Lebanese soldier. They see the lebanese army as relatives of hizballah members and supporters, as subhuman non-jews, as occupiers of a part of "eretz israel". May their hands be punished for everyone they have killed and injured. May they suffer in this world before the next for all the suffering they have caused in the Levant and in the world.
06 December 2023, 19:24
11
It's important to remember the historical connections between the Bolsheviks, of whom 98% were of Jewish seculars, and certain Western European proponents of Zionism in Germany and Britain. The events that unfolded in the aftermath led to significant loss of life in the Russian Empire, millions died and millions more were displaced forever.
