BEIRUT: The Israeli Army fired bullets into Lebanon late Monday evening, aimed towards Lebanese soldiers conducting maintenance work close to the disputed Blue Line. “Lebanese soldiers were working at their positions in the Dhayra area when Israeli soldiers fired in the air above their heads,” a Lebanese Army spokesman told media on condition of anonymity. “The Lebanese army did not respond, and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) intervened to contain the situation.” The spokesperson added that Lebanese troops were not targeted “directly” by Israeli patrols. UNIFIL Spokesperson Neeraj Singh told Bikya Masr that an investigation had been launched into the incident, which came on the eve of UN International Day for Peace. “We were informed immediately by the Lebanese Army and we sent a patrol to the area,” Singh said. “The situation was quiet and we have been trying to ascertain the facts about what happened. An investigation has been launched to get to the cause of the incident. The area is currently calm.” The shooting occurred more than a month after two Lebanese soldiers, a journalist and a senior Israeli officer were killed in clashes close to the Blue Line village of Adeisseh. The fighting was the worst of its kind for four years and the first case of casualties sustained by both sides since the July 2006 War between Hizbullah and Israel. Recent weeks have seen a series of high alerts issued to both armies, who often operate within sight of one another, either side of the UN-demarcated Blue Line – the boundary of Israeli military border with Lebanon not, as is often assumed, the border between the two states. Earlier in September, Tel Aviv released surveillance drone footage purportedly showing Hizbullah members removing rockets and other ammunition from a storage facility in the southern Lebanese village of Shehabiyeh, following a suspicious explosion in a neighboring block of flats. Complaints of violations of UN Security Council resolution 1701 – drafted to end the July 2006 conflict – are frequently lodged in New York from both sides. Speaking Tuesday on the occasion of UN International Day of Peace, UNIFIL Commander Major General Alberto Asarta Cuevas reiterated his force's support for Lebanese sovereignty. He praised his force, which has more than 12,000 soldiers continually stationed south of the Litani River, for “working shoulder-to-shoulder with the Lebanese Armed Forces and extending all the necessary support to the Lebanese Government and the people of southern Lebanon”.
