Hezbollah threatens Israel with retaliation over border killing
A Hezbollah official warned Monday of retaliation for an incident Sunday evening in which Israel Defense Forces troops shot dead a man across the border in southern Lebanon and wounded another .
The incident took place at Ghajar , a border village which is controlled by Israel in the south and Lebanon in the north
Such incidents have been rare since the 2006 war. IDF claims that the two men were armed and were trying to infiltrate the borders to smuggle drugs into Israel.
“This matter definitely will not pass in a way that the people will remain silent,” MP Hussein Hajj Hassan said on LBC television Monday. “It is the right of the resistance to respond one day by any means.
Hassan decried the lack of international criticism of the Israeli firing, even though the circumstances surrounding the incident remained unclear. He said if the situation had been reversed, with an Israeli killed by fire from Lebanon, “you wouldn”t imagine how many condemnations would have been issued … as if a citizen on our side has no value.”
Hassan did not threaten to retaliate immediately, nor did he indicate that the 2 men were members of Hezbollah .
Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah warned in a recent speech that the militant group”s patience was wearing thin with what he described as repeated Israeli violations of Lebanese territory.
Naim Qassem, Hezbollah”s deputy secretary general, last week threatened that the group would carry out additional kidnappings of IDF soldiers. Qassem also reiterated Hezbollah”s stance that it would not give up on a single prisoner it has demanded for exchange with Israel.
Lebanese security officials confirmed that one person was killed and another wounded in the incident late Sunday. The casualties were taken to a hospital in the Lebanese town of Marjayoun, where officials there confirmed they received one body and another person wounded
Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has referred the issue to Lebanese representative at the UN and requested that an appropriate action to be taken immediately at the UN security council
Lebanon has been complaining to the UN about the Israel Air Force”s reconnaissance flights over Lebanon. Israel has been claiming that that flights are to check on Hezbollah compliance with the UN ceasefire resolution 1701.
Until 1967, Ghajar was a Syrian village on the Syrian-Lebanese border. It was captured by Israel when the IDF took the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War. Half of the town is under Israeli control and the other half is in Lebanon.
UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, said it was investigating the shooting and urged restraint on both sides of the border. UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane said: “UNIFIL has launched an immediate investigation to ascertain the facts, looking into initial allegations of smuggling. “UNIFIL”s force commander, Major General Claudio Graziano, is in contact with senior officers on both sides urging them to show maximum restraint,” she added.
The village of Ghajar was captured by Israel from Syria when the IDF took the Golan Heights during the Six-Day War. Half of the village is now under Israeli control and the other half is under Lebanon control
The village of Wazzani in south Lebanon mourned Abdullah Diab al Mohammad the Lebanese citizen that was killed by the Israeli Defense Forces in Ghajar near Wazzani.
According to Hezbollah the border incident involved 3 people. One was killed , one was wounded and one was kidnapped by the Israeli Defense Forces .