BEIRUT: The Hezbollah movement and the Lebanese Army went on full alert on Sunday after unknown gunmen in Syria opened fire on a group of Israeli military engineers in the Israeli- occupied Golan Heights.
“No one was hurt but a vehicle was damaged,” an Israeli Army spokesman said of the incident, which came amid an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip that has outraged many Arabs. “Forces in the field are examining the incident and a complaint was sent to UNDOF which sent a team there. The circumstances of the incident are still unclear, “ he said.
According to an eyewitness in the Bekaa Valley, Hezbollah fighters were seen taking their positions in the mountainous Knessineh area overlooking the Israeli-Lebanese border shortly after the Golan incident took place.
Lebanese security sources said that all precautionary measures have been taken by the Lebanese Army and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon to prevent any incident that would breach the cease-fire between Lebanon and Israel.
Hezbollah and Israel fought 33 days of fierce battles in 2006, after the group snatched two Israeli soldiers in a cross- border attack.
The fighting came to an end after the UN Security Council issued Resolution 1701 calling for a halt to all violence in August 2006 and called on the Lebanese Army and UN forces to monitor the situation on the border.
