Israeli Military Carries Out Drills Near Border Town of Maroun al-Ras
Explosions were heard on Saturday near the border southern town of Maroun al-Ras from the Israeli side, the state-run National News Agency reported.
According to NNA, the bombing sounds were caused by drills carried out by Israeli troops.
Israeli warplanes accompanied the drills flying over the villages of Bint Jbeil district at high altitude.
The military exercisers a day after tension surged at the border between the Lebanese army and the Israeli army.
The two armies went on high alert on Friday after Israeli military tried to cut down a tree adjacent to the border fence from the town of Adaisseh.
UNIFIL peacekeepers swiftly deployed in the area to calm down both sides and carried out contacts with the Lebanese and Israeli military.
The parties agreed to task the UNIFIL to uproot the tree to end the dispute.
A similar incident occurred in 2008 prompting Lebanon and Israel to exchanged fire in a fierce battle that killed a senior Israeli officer, two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist.
The incident comes days after an Israeli soldier was killed Sunday in a cross-border shooting.
The Lebanese army on Monday described the deadly shooting as "an individual act by one of the soldiers," noting that it will address the repercussions of the incident in coordination with the U.N. peacekeeping force.
The Israeli army said in a statement on Sunday that an Israeli soldier was killed by a “Lebanese army sniper” near the Naqoura border post.
The shooting, which took place on Sunday evening, was the first time an Israeli soldier had been killed along the border with Lebanon in more than three years, sparking calls for calm from U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
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