Early morning scenes at Israel Lebanon border day after violence

Рет қаралды 22,607

Күн бұрын

(4 Aug 2010) SHOTLIST
Israel-Lebanon border (shot from the Israeli side)
1. Pan left wide of Tille village in Lebanon (shot from Israeli side of border)
2. Various of Lebanese soldier walking along border fence, smoking
3. Hezbollah flag
4. Tracking shot of Israeli soldiers along border
5. Various of Israeli soldiers working with bulldozers working along Israeli side of border
6. Various of Israeli soldiers on tanks
7. No Entry sign
8. More of Israeli soldiers on tanks
++DUSK SHOTS++
9. Adeisseh in Lebanon seen from Israeli side of border
10. UN vehicle long border
11. Wide of Israeli armoured vehicles
12. Various of Israeli soldiers gathering
STORYLINE
Tension was high at the Israeli border with Lebanon on Wednesday, a day after Lebanese and Israeli troops exchanged fire in a border battle that killed a senior Israeli officer, two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist.
The incident underlines how easily tensions can re-ignite along the frontier where Israel and Hezbollah fought a war four years ago.
It was the worst fighting since 2006 in the area, where Israeli and Lebanese soldiers patrol within shouting distance of each other, separated by the U.N.-drawn Blue Line boundary.
Israeli soldiers were patrolling the border on Wednesday morning, and tanks, bulldozers and armoured vehicles were lined up along the border.
Tuesday's clashes began after an Israeli soldier tried to remove a tree along the border, something the military has done in the past to improve its sightlines into Lebanon.
But both sides claimed the tree was in their territory.
An Associated Press photo shows an Israeli standing on a crane reaching over the fence that Israel erected to separate the two countries.
The fence, however, does not match the Blue Line in all places, and the Israeli military said in a statement that the tree was in Israeli territory.
The Lebanese military said the Israelis crossed onto Lebanese soil despite calls from the U.N. and Lebanon to stop.
When the Israelis persisted, Lebanese troops opened fire with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, it said in a statement.
The border had been relatively quiet since the summer 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war that left 1,200 Lebanese and about 160 Israelis dead.
After the war, the U.N. beefed up its peacekeeping force to 12,000 members and the Lebanese military deployed in the border region for the first time in years.
Tensions along the border have risen in recent months.
Israel claims Hezbollah has significantly expanded and improved its arsenal of rockets since 2006, with help from its allies Syria and Iran.
Adding to the friction, more than 70 people in Lebanon have been arrested since last year on suspicion of collaborating with Israel.
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.c...
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.c...