Lebanese Army Holds UNIFIL Responsible
Calm prevailed in south Lebanon after the Lebanese army contained the Khirbet Selm incident which erupted Saturday after UNIFIL soldiers tried to inspect a house where weapons were believed to be hidden near the area where an explosion went off in a Hizbullah arms depot on Tuesday. Local media, however, gave conflicting reports over what happened.
As Safir and al-Akhbar newspapers said UNIFIL troops entered Khirbet Selm without coordinating with the Lebanese army, leading to a clash between residents and U.N. soldiers that left 14 peacekeepers lightly wounded.
As Safir said the Lebanese army command has informed UNIFIL commander Maj. Gen. Claudio Graziano that the U.N. peacekeepers were responsible for the mishap in Khirbet Selm "because of the mistake they committed when they tried to raid an inhabited house, surpassing the Lebanese army role and its jurisdiction."
Military sources told As Safir that UNIFIL had no right, under Resolution 1701, to raid houses or set up checkpoints without prior coordination with the Lebanese army.
Pan-Arab daily al-Hayat, for its part, said the incident took place when a joint Lebanese army-UNIFIL force attempted to inspect a house in Khirbet Selm suspected of being turned into a weapons cache.
The National News Agency had said residents blocked the Bir al-Salasel and Khirbet Selm main road with burning tires after engaging in a fistfight with the peacekeepers and throwing stones on them in protest against the patrol”s attempt to raid the house in the area of Khirbet Selm-Dabshe.
Al-Liwaa newspaper, meanwhile, said a suspect belonging to a political party has been arrested in connection with the Khirbet Selm explosion.
Local media said Israeli troops have reinforced a newly set up post in Kfarshouba, deploying a Merkava tank and a number of soldiers.
The Israeli army also threatened to "open fire on anyone who attempts to cross the border into the Israeli side, even if he wasn”t armed."