Israel Exchanges Fire With Unknown Forces in Lebanon
Unknown forces in Lebanon fired an anti-tank guided missile, initially reported as rocket fire, toward Israel Thursday. Israeli artillery later responded by bombing areas from which the missile appeared to have emanated.
No casualties were reported on either side. The anti-tank missile landed on the Lebanese side of the border, near the disputed village of Ghajar, but the Israeli army said it had found fragments on the Israeli side.
The Lebanese Information Ministry said Thursday that Israeli artillery had fired 15 shells that landed near Kfarchouba and Halta Farm in the country’s south.
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UN peacekeepers said they had been in touch with the Lebanese and Israeli governments and urged restraint on all sides.
No one in Lebanon has claimed responsibility for the missile attack. In years past, Israel has fought bitter conflicts with Lebanon’s powerful Hizbullah militia, with hundreds of thousands of civilians caught in the crossfire.
The latest cross-border shooting occurred in April this year when militias apparently allied with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip fired a barrage of rockets to protest an Israeli police raid on a Muslim holy site in Jerusalem.
Israel said the attack from Lebanon was related to similar attacks from Gaza, and its aircraft struck Palestinian targets in both Gaza and Lebanon.
It was not immediately clear Thursday if the latest missile fire from Lebanon had anything to do with Israel’s military operation earlier this week in the Palestinian refugee camp in Jenin, situated some 50 miles to the south.
Israeli forces withdrew from Jenin Wednesday after a two-day assault aimed at killing or capturing Palestinian fighters. At least 12 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier died in the fighting, and over 100 Palestinians were wounded. The camp suffered extensive damage.
