The Lebanese army said that it fired tear gas at Israeli forces on the border, on Saturday, in response to smoke bomb attacks fired at its forces, but Israel said that it was the Lebanese side that started the clashes.
The Lebanese army said in a statement: “Elements of the Israeli enemy violated the withdrawal line and fired smoke bombs towards a Lebanese army patrol while accompanying a bulldozer that was removing an earthen berm erected by the Israeli enemy, north of the withdrawal line (the reserved blue line) in the Bastara area – the south.”
The current dividing line between the two countries is known as the Blue Line, which is a border drawn by the United Nations and represents the line to which Israeli forces withdrew when they left southern Lebanon in 2000.
The Lebanese army added: “The patrol members responded to the attack by firing tear gas at the enemy members, forcing them to withdraw to the occupied Palestinian territories.”
The Israeli army said that the Lebanese army was the one who started the violence.
He added in a statement: “A short while ago, IDF soldiers spotted an engineering bulldozer crossing the Blue Line from Lebanon into Israeli territory in the Mount Dov area… In response, IDF soldiers used riot dispersal means.”
He continued: “The vehicle returned to Lebanese territory.”
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) deployed in the area stated that “there was tension today.”
Force spokesman Andrea Tenenti said: “UNIFIL is in contact with both parties to calm tensions and prevent any misunderstandings. At the present moment, we are on the ground, monitoring the situation and trying to restore calm to the area.”
Previous escalation
Last June, the border between Lebanon and Israel witnessed a mutual alert between the two armies, against the backdrop of the Israeli army bringing military reinforcements to the Kafr Shuba hills.
Dozens of residents of Kafr Shuba, Shebaa, Kafr Hamam, and the rest of the villages of Arqoub carried out a sit-in to denounce the bulldozing and land changes carried out by the Israeli army in the region.
The protesters demanded that UNIFIL forces put an end to the Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty, while the Israeli forces fired smoke bombs at the people.
The Lebanese Army was also on alert, which sent additional reinforcements to the area, and UNIFIL forces also sent reinforcements to the sit-in site.
2023-09-23 18:04:43
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