ADEISSEH, Lebanon -" Lebanese and Israeli troops exchanged fire on the border Tuesday in the most serious clashes since a fierce war four years ago, killing four people including two Lebanese soldiers and an Israeli army officer. The violence apparently erupted over a move by Israeli soldiers to cut down a tree along the fence dividing the two countries, a sign of the level of tensions at the border where Israel fought a war in 2006 with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. The UN urged "maximum restraint" and said it was working with both sides to restore calm. After an initial clash of about five minutes, intermittent shelling and gunfire went on for several hours until the fighting stopped by mid-afternoon, witnesses said. A Lebanese army officer said the clash started when Israeli troops tried to remove a tree from the Lebanese side of the border. "It was over the fence but still within Israeli territory," the military spokesman's office said. He said the tree cutting was coordinated with the UN peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, UNIFIL. Ronith Daher, 32, a Lebanese journalist who was at the scene, said she saw a UNIFIL peacekeeper ask Israel not to allow the Israeli soldier to cross the fence and warned them the Lebanese troops would open fire. The Israelis proceeded, however, and Lebanese soldiers fired into the air, Daher said. She said the Israelis fired back directly at the Lebanese soldiers. The Israeli military's northern commander, Maj. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, however, accused Lebanese forces of shooting toward forces inside Israeli territory without any provocation." He said that while soldiers were removing bushes by the fence, Lebanese military snipers shot two officers who were more than 300 meters (yards) away from the fence. The military announced that a 45-year-old battalion commander with the rank of lieutenant colonel was killed and a captain was critically wounded. Eizenkot said Israel responded with infantry, tanks and artillery fire, and later sent helicopters and artillery fire at a Lebanese army base and command centre. "These are the first casualties in the past four years (in the border area). We view this very seriously and that is why we responded so severely," he told reporters. Nonetheless, he described the incident as "isolated." He did not elaborate. UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti told Israel Radio that the circumstances were still unclear. Asked whether Israel crossed into Lebanon, Tenenti said: "This is what we are trying to verify, to get all the facts together and try to basically get the evidence of all the events." Lebanese President Michel Suleiman denounced the fighting and urged the army commander to "confront any Israeli aggression whatever the sacrifices."
