MAROUN EL-RASS, Lebanon, 9 February 2007 — Prime Minister Fouad Siniora yesterday denounced what he called Israel’s violation of the Lebanese border as UN officers surveyed the area of the first clashes since just after last year’s war between Hezbollah and Israel.
The Wednesday night incident — sparked by an Israeli bulldozer crossing the border fence — showed how tense the Israeli-Lebanese frontier remains nearly six months after a UN-brokered cease-fire ended 34 days of fighting.
Lebanese officials said their troops opened fire on an Israeli Army bulldozer that had crossed the frontier near the village of Maroun El-Rass, scene of heavy fighting in the summer. The bulldozer crossed the so-called Blue Line — the UN-demarcated boundary — and drove about 20 meters into Lebanon, Lebanese military officials said.
No casualties incurred in the shootout, which lasted only a few minutes and ended with an Israeli withdrawal.
UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon described the shootout as a “serious incident.”
Liam McDowell, a spokesman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, said the exchange was “initiated by the Lebanese Army” and that the Israeli bulldozer had crossed the “technical fence” to clear mines.
Crossing the technical fence would not violate the border, but crossing the Blue Line would. McDowell said UNIFIL was assessing whether Israeli troops had crossed the Blue Line.
Israel said its troops went through the fence to search for explosives allegedly planted by Hezbollah on Monday, but that Israeli forces remained south of the international border and within Israeli territory, which stretches beyond the fence.
Hezbollah has denied planting the explosives, saying they were laid before the war.
At the site yesterday, near this southern village, UNIFIL officers inspected some freshly-turned soil — the presumed work of the bulldozer — and used a satellite positioning system to determine the exact location of the spot in relation to the Blue Line.
The atmosphere was relaxed. UN vehicles patrolled a dirt road along the frontier, and a group of Lebanese soldiers huddled around a bonfire to keep warm. Some Lebanese troops with binoculars stared at Israeli soldiers on the other side of the border fence.
Across the fence, the bulldozer that apparently began the clash was parked in Israeli territory.
Siniora discussed the border clash with UN envoy Geir Pedersen, telling him that his government condemned the “new Israeli aggression on Lebanon’s sovereignty and the violation of the Blue Line.”
Speaking to Pedersen in front of reporters, Siniora said the incursion compounded the daily violations of Lebanese sovereignty by Israeli aircraft, which also violate the UN cease-fire resolution of August.
Yesterday morning, Israeli planes flew twice over southern Lebanon. The Israeli military confirmed the overflights, saying: “The incident yesterday hasn’t led us to change our aerial activity.”
