Rashaya, Lebanon: Israeli troops shot and wounded a Lebanese soldier across the ceasefire line between the two countries on Sunday, a Lebanese security source said.
The source said the soldier was hit when a Lebanese army patrol came under fire in Jebel Sadanneh, west of the occupied Sheba’a Farms area.
Israel’s military said its troops had opened fire on suspects it claimed was trying to infiltrate the north of the country.
“Earlier today, during a routine activity along the Israel-Lebanon border, an IDF [army] force identified suspects crossing the border and infiltrating into Israeli territory,” the army said in a statement.
“The force responded by opening fire towards the suspects, who escaped north, returning to Lebanon. The incident is currently being reviewed.”
The Sheba’a Farms area is located at the junction of Lebanon, Syria and Israel and has been occupied by the Israelis since the 1967 Middle East war.
Tensions regularly break out between Israeli and Lebanese troops along the so-called Blue Line, the ceasefire line drawn up by the UN in 2000 after Israeli troops withdrew, ending a 22-year occupation of south Lebanon.
Last year, the Israelis accused a Lebanese army soldier of opening fire across the ceasefire line and killing one of its troops in what UN forces stationed in the area called an “individual action”.
