The United Nations is urging restraint after a Lebanese sniper shot and killed an Israeli soldier near the border, sparking a retaliatory incident by IDF troops and leading to a scheduled emergency meeting on Monday to try to diffuse the tensions.
Israel’s Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon said that Israel regards “the Lebanese government and the Lebanese army as responsible for what happens on their side,” Reuters reported.
The Israeli soldier was shot over the weekend as he drove near the border fence. Israelis searched the area and shot at two Lebanese soldiers who reportedly “made suspicious movements,” one said, Reuters reported. One of the Lebanese soldiers was hit, a military spokesman said, but did not die, Reuters reported.
But now Israel is demanding answers and accountability, Reuters reported.
And the United Nations has stepped in, pleading for peace on the border as officials sort through the details. Members of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon are due to meet with Israeli and Lebanese liaison officers, Reuters said.
“We will demand of the Lebanese army first of all an explanation as to what happened and whether this was indeed a rogue soldier,” Mr. Yaalon said, in the media outlet. “[We also demand to know] what they have done with him and what the Lebanese army plans to do in order to prevent incidents of this kind.”
Mr. Yaalon also said, in Reuters: “We will not tolerate violations of our sovereignty along any border, and certainly not the Lebanese border.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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