Earlier today, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) fired at Israeli soldiers working along the Lebanese border in northern Israel. The force was in internationally recognized Israeli territory, carrying out routine maintenance which was coordinated with UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon). The soldiers were working on clearing trees near Israel’s security fence when they were struck by incoming fire from the other side of the border. As the pictures and map below show, the area between the security fence and the internationally recognized “Blue Line” (the border between Israel and Lebanon) is 115 meters, over a football field length. As the IDF were east of the Blue Line, they were clearing not in Lebanese territory and did not incite the Lebanese attack.
For Illustrative Purposes Only
Israeli soldier performing maintenance prior to LAF attack
Looking at the above 2 images, it is clear that the road in which the IDF was removing brush from is in fact east of the Lebanon border. The image of the cherrypicker above shows maintenance on Israel’s security fence, but the fence itself is not the internationally recognized “Blue Line.” The road pictured above corresponds to the road highlighted in purple on the map.
Following what Israel’s Northern Command General called a “sniper ambush,” the IDF force immediately returned fire with light arms at a force of the LAF, and the IDF also made use of artillery fire. Several minutes later an Israel Air Force (IAF) helicopter fired at the LAF Battalion Command Center in Al-Taybeh, damaging several LAF armored combat vehicles.
In a statement, the Israeli government blamed Lebanon for provoking the clash, saying it took a particularly grave view of the action as IDF soldiers had been working in complete coordination with UN peacekeepers.
“Israel sees this incident as a violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701, one of a long line of violations, first of which is the massive arming of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon,” the statement read. “Israel views the government of Lebanon as responsible for this grave event and warns of possible consequences if these violations continue.”
Following this initial skirmish, Lebanese forces fired an RPG at an Israeli tank operating in Israeli territory. The tank returned fire. A ceasefire has been declared to avoid exacerbating tensions between the two sides in what has already been the most serious military engagement since 2006. Israel plans to file a formal complaint to the United Nations.
Dov Harari, IDF Lieutenant Colonel from Natanya, was killed in the attack. He was 45.
