Israeli and Lebanese army officers met with UN peacekeepers on Monday after Israel accused Lebanese troops of gunning down one of its soldiers as he drove near the frontier.
?We discussed concrete steps to strengthen the existing security arrangements along the Blue Line (border) to prevent the reoccurrence of such incidents,? the UN peacekeeping force UNIFIL said in a statement.
The shooting, which took place on Sunday evening, was the first time an Israeli soldier had been killed along the border with Lebanon in more than three years, sparking calls for calm from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
But commentators said it was unlikely to spark a confrontation.
The Israeli army said the soldier was shot by Lebanese troops as he was driving a civilian vehicle along a section of the border near Rosh HaNikra on the Mediterranean coast.
The crossing is known in Lebanon as Ras al-Naqoura.
In a statement, the UN chief said UNIFIL was investigating the incident in cooperation with the two armies, and urged the sides to remain calm.
“The Israel Defence Forces and the Lebanese Armed Forces are cooperating with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to ascertain the facts,” he said.
“The secretary General reminds the Lebanese Armed Forces of their responsibilities under Security Council Resolution 1701 and strongly urges both sides to exercise restraint,” he said of the resolution which ended hostilities in 2006.
Israel filed a protest with UNIFIL over the incident which it described as an “outrageous breach” of its sovereignty.
And the military said it had “heightened its state of preparedness” and would maintain its “right to exercise self-defence”.
The Israeli army said troops searching the area on Sunday, shortly after the shooting, had fired towards two suspects who were standing on the other side of the border, hitting one of them.
“After the incident, we reached the area to conduct searches as part of the investigation, and saw two suspects on the other side of the border,” army spokesman Major Arye Shalicar told AFP.
“We shot at them, and saw we hit at least one. We think they were Lebanese soldiers… involved in the shooting of the soldier,” he said.
Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said the shooter was understood to be “a Lebanese soldier”.
“We hold the Lebanese government and Lebanese army responsible for what happens on their side,” he said.
He said Israel would demand explanations from the Lebanese army at the meeting with UNIFIL.
The soldier, 31-year-old Master Sergeant Shlomi Cohen, died after his car was hit by “six to seven rounds.” Shalicar said. It was not immediately clear whether it was the work of a sniper.
He was to be laid to rest at a cemetery in the northern Israeli port city of Haifa on Monday evening.
Neither side seeking confrontation
There was no immediate reaction from the Lebanese army but it issued a statement on Monday saying an Israeli drone had violated Lebanese airspace in the same area shortly after the incident.
Meanwhile, Lebanese troops were stationed at their position close to where the shooting occurred, a military source said.
“An enquiry has been opened to understand what happened in the incident on Sunday,” he said.
Israeli commentator Amos Harel wrote in Haaretz newspaper that the shooting was unlikely to spark violence across the border.
“Neither Israel nor Hezbollah are seeking a comprehensive military confrontation, and the Lebanese government surely does not want to be drawn into such a conflict,” he said.
Israel’s border with Lebanon has been largely quiet since the 2006 war with the Shiite movement Hezbollah.
The last time a soldier was killed there was in August 2010, when two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist also died.
In August, four Israeli soldiers were wounded by an explosion some 400 metres (yards) inside Lebanese territory, in a blast claimed by Hezbollah.
Last week, Hezbollah said one of its top leaders was killed near Beirut and blamed Israel for his murder — a charge denied by Israel, which warned against any retaliation.
UNIFIL troops were deployed along the border following the 34-day war in 2006 which killed some 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
Israel, Lebanon officers meet UN after border killing
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