JERUSALEM: Gunfire from a vehicle in Lebanon towards Israeli forces on the border wounded an Israeli soldier on Wednesday and officers returned fire, the army said.
“Shots were fired from a passing vehicle in Lebanon at (Israeli) forces during routine activity adjacent to the border in the area of Ramim Ridge,” an army statement said.
“Forces responded with fire towards the vehicle. A hit was confirmed. The injured soldier was evacuated for medical treatment.”
The army said later that “fire was exchanged between the vehicle” and Israeli forces in the incident near the Israeli town of Metula.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency said the country’s military denied the Israeli report.
A source close to Lebanon’s powerful Shiite militant group Hezbollah also told AFP “there were no shots fired from the Lebanese side of the border.”
The UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said it had received Israel’s report of the incident and that an investigation had been opened.
“At the moment, UNIFIL head of mission Michael Beary is in contact with the parties to help control the situation and help prevent escalation,” said UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Teneti.
“He also urged both sides to exercise maximum restraint.”
Lebanon and Israel are still officially at war although the border area has been relatively calm in recent years.
Hezbollah and Israel scuffle intermittently in the disputed border area between the two countries.
Israel occupied parts of Lebanon for 22 years until 2000, with Hezbollah claiming credit for its withdrawal following persistent guerrilla attacks.
A 34-day conflict in 2006 led to the deaths of 1,200 people in Lebanon, mainly civilians, and 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
It began when Israel retaliated for a cross-border raid in which Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed three, and quickly spiralled into a fully fledged war.
In January, Hezbollah said it had targeted an Israeli army border patrol with a bomb in an attack that prompted retaliatory fire from the Jewish state.
The attack appeared to be revenge for an Israeli air strike in Syria in late December that killed senior Hezbollah official Samir Kantar.
Recently, Hezbollah’s focus has been on the war in Syria, where it has sent thousands of fighters to support President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
