BEIRUT, 22 May 2005 — Lebanese militiamen fired rockets on the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms yesterday, causing no casualties, in response to Israeli warning fire at shepherds who had entered prohibited territory, officials on both sides said.
“In response to Israeli fire targeting the Lebanese village of Shebaa, Hezbollah fired around a dozen rockets on the sector,” a Lebanese policeman said.
That was confirmed by a military source in Jerusalem, who said fighters from Lebanon “fired at least eight missiles or rockets toward the Har Dov area.”
The shooting came shortly after a group of shepherds and their flocks crossed into the Shebaa Farms, but were scared off when Israeli troops fired warning shots into the air. The Lebanese police said heavy Israeli machine-gun fire damaged five houses. “About half an hour later, the cross-border shelling started with high-trajectory firing at the Har Dov area,” the Israeli source said. “This is another example of cross-border escalation which is completely unacceptable.”
Hezbollah said “our fighters responded to the Israeli fire, which hit houses in the village of Shebaa, by bombarding the position at Rweissat Al-Alam.”
The latest flare-up followed one on May 13, when Israel reported no fewer than nine explosions near its positions in the Shebaa Farms. Israeli tanks, artillery and warplanes retaliated, destroying four Hezbollah positions across the border. Seized from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war along with the rest of the Golan Heights, the Shebaa Farms is now claimed by Lebanon with Syrian support although Israel rejects the arrangement.
