UNIFIL troops 'pelted with stones from Israel'

An Israeli patrol crossed into Lebanese territory on Wednesday and captured a Lebanese shepherd near the border, the Lebanese army said in a statement."In a flagrant assault on residents of southern Lebanon... Enemy troops crossed the technical fence south of the village of Rmeish and kidnapped a Lebanese man, whom they took back into the occupied territories," or Israel, it said.The statement said the army was in contact with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which is tasked with monitoring the Lebanon-Israel border, in order to "free the citizen."

An Israeli patrol crossed a UN-drawn border into Lebanese territory at the disputed area of Kfar Shuba on Thursday, the Lebanese army said."A patrol of eight enemy (Israeli) soldiers crossed the line of withdrawal at the town of Kfar Shuba in an attempt to abduct a shepherd," an army spokesman told AFP.He said the shepherd had managed to escape but the troops had crossed 20 metres (22 yards) past the UN-drawn Blue Line, an informal border established after the withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon in 2000, following a 22-year presence.

An Israeli tank briefly entered a disputed border area with Lebanon on Thursday after the alert was sounded over people picking thyme and thistle in the volatile zone, an army spokesman said."The Merkava tank entered a zone claimed by Lebanon," the Lebanese army spokesman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP.A security official in the area said the tank advanced four metres (yards) into the disputed so-called Blue Line before withdrawing.Lebanese army and troops from the UN force stationed in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, were at the site.

Residents of southern Lebanon on Friday dismantled a barbed wire fence set up by Israeli troops in a disputed border area earlier this week, a military spokesman said."The residents have taken down the barbed wire near the village of Aabasiya, which Lebanon considers part of its territory," the spokesman told AFP on condition of anonymity.Israeli troops set up the fence on Tuesday near the Blue Line, in what the Lebanese army claims was a violation of Lebanese territory.

Lebanese and Israeli troops traded deadly fire on their tense border in the worst clash since the 2006 war between the Jewish state and Hezbollah, with the Shiite movement's leader warning against future Israeli "aggression."Two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and a senior Israeli officer were killed in the fighting.Each side blamed the other for sparking the incident, which Lebanon said wounded 15 people. The Lebanese army acknowledged that it had fired first.The United States, the United Nations and the European Union urged restraint on both sides.

Israel's security cabinet on Wednesday backed plans to withdraw troops from part of a disputed village on the Lebanese border and hand over control to a UN peacekeeping force, officials said."The ministerial committee on security decided today to accept the principles of a proposal by the United Nations and UNIFIL to withdraw IDF forces from the northern part of the village," cabinet secretary Zvi Hauser said in a statement.The move will see Israel pulling out of the northern sector of Ghajar village, although no date was mentioned in the communique.

Israel and Lebanon are both opposed to a military escalation along their shared border, the head the UN force deployed in south Lebanon said on Thursday, two weeks after deadly frontier skirmishes.UNIFIL commander Alberto Asarta Cuevas had "received assurances from the parties that they want to continue working closely with UNIFIL to maintain calm in the area," the United Nations said in a statement after a meeting on Wednesday between Asarta and senior Israeli and Lebanese officers.

One French UN peacekeeper was killed and two others injured in a road accident in southern Lebanon on Saturday, officials said."One UNIFIL (United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon) peacekeeper died and two other soldiers were injured in a road traffic accident involving an armoured personnel carrier on a routine patrol this morning," UNIFIL spokesman Naresh Bhatt said.He said that the accident occurred near Qalaway, a village east of the southern port city of Tyre, and that no other vehicle was involved.