Israel, Lebanon hold talks to limit flare-up damage

Occupied Jerusalem: Military officers from Israel and Lebanon told the United Nations they will work to avoid an escalation of border tensions after this week's clash, the worst since the 2006 war.

An Israeli officer, two Lebanese soldiers and a local journalist were killed last Tuesday after fighting broke out as Israeli forces were cutting trees along the UN-mandated ‘Blue Line' border between the two countries.

At a meeting held under UN auspices near the Lebanese village of Naqoura, "both the parties renewed their commitment to the cessation of hostilities" and to working with the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (Unifil) "to ensure incidents of violence are avoided in the future", Unifil commander Major-General Alberto Asarta Cuevas said in an e-mailed statement.

The clash has raised tensions along a border that has been largely quiet since the July-August 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, in which about 1,200 Lebanese and 159 Israelis were killed. The agreement that ended the conflict included the deployment of Lebanese forces along the Israeli border to prevent further clashes.

Netanyahu's warning

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Lebanon that his government would respond strongly to what it called further provocations, linking the clash to rocket attacks this week on Israeli territory he said were carried out by the Hamas resistance movement that controls the Gaza Strip.

"I want to clarify to Hamas, and also to the Lebanese government, whom we see as responsible for this violent provocation against our soldiers: Don't test our resolve to defend the citizens of Israel and its soldiers," he said in a televised statement late on Wednesday.

The clash apparently began when Israeli forces started cutting a tree on their own side of the Blue Line, having earlier informed Unifil of their intentions, after rejecting a UN offer to carry out the work.

Israel rejected a UN offer to cut the trees and, after waiting about five hours for it to settle the dispute, went ahead on its own, UN under-secretary-general Alain LeRoy told reporters in New York yesterday.

Lebanese clarification

While Lebanon respects the Blue Line, it's "not the international border", Lebanese information minister Tarek Mitri was cited as saying by the country's English-language newspaper The Daily Star yesterday. "There are areas south of the Blue Line that are Lebanese territory," he said.

Israel says Lebanese soldiers fired first and deliberately ambushed its troops. The Lebanese army said its first shot was meant as warning fire, according to LeRoy.

US State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley cited the UN's confirmation that the trees were on the Israeli side of the border as evidence that Lebanon bore responsibility for the incident.

"The United Nations has now established that the trees cut by the Israeli defence forces were on the Israeli side of the line that separates Israel and Lebanon," Crowley said during a briefing for reporters in Washington. "The firing by Lebanese armed forces was wholly unjustified and unwarranted."

Israeli soldiers returned yesterday to complete their work on the trees at the site of the shooting.