The UN Security Council expressed on Thursday deep concern about
the latest incident along the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel,
and called both sides to refrain from further actions.
In a press statement read out by the President of the Council,
Ambassador Peter Burian of Slovakia, the Council appealed to all
parties to respect the Blue Line in its entirety, to exercise
utmost restraint and to refrain from any action that could further
escalate the situation.
"The members of the Security Council reaffirmed their strong
support for UNIFIL and reiterated their call for full
implementation of Security Council resolution 1701," the president
said after receiving a briefing from the Department of Peacekeeping
Operations on the serious incident.
Late on Wednesday night, Lebanese troops opened fire on an
Israeli bulldozer after it crossed a southern border area and
entered about 20 yards into Lebanon, Hezbollah Al Manar TV
reported.
Local press also quoted Israeli army as saying that shooting
erupted on the Israel-Lebanon border during an Israeli operation to
search for bombs planted by Hezbollah guerrillas.
It was the first time that the exchange of fire between the two
sides erupted across the border since an Aug. 14 cease-fire that
ended a 34-day war between Israeli forces and Lebanon's Hezbollah
militants.
(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2007)
