Israel says one killed in fire from Lebanon as Hezbollah claims strikes
Hezbollah and Israel exchanged deadly cross-border fire Sunday, with the Iran-backed, Lebanon-based group claiming responsibility for strikes that Israel said killed a civilian.
The exchanges -- and a rocket that hit a U.N. peacekeeping base -- further raised tensions on Israel's northern border, as it targets Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip to the south.
The Israeli army closed the border area to civilians as tit-for-tat fire with Hezbollah and allied Palestinian factions in Lebanon intensified.
More than 10 people have been killed in Lebanon and at least two in Israel since last Sunday.
"The IDF (Israeli army) responded with fire and destroyed Hezbollah positions and the source of the fire," an Israeli army spokesman said.
"In addition, there was fire at an Israeli military position. There were no casualties. The IDF responded with fire to the source of fire there too," he added.
A military spokesperson told AFP that, "we have a dead civilian and a number of people wounded in the attack" by an anti-tank missile in Shtula.
"In accordance with the situational assessment and the recent shooting incident in northern Israel, the area up to four kilometers (2.5 miles) from the northern border with Lebanon has been closed," the army said in another statement.
Hezbollah on Sunday morning said it had targeted an Israeli position in the Shtula area with guided missiles.
In a separate statement, the group said one of its fighters had died Sunday.
A spokesperson told AFP the fighter died after sustaining injuries in south Lebanon prior to Sunday, and that Israel was responsible.
Hezbollah said the strikes were retaliation for separate "Israeli aggressions" that killed two civilians and struck journalists, killing a Reuters videographer and wounding others -- including two from AFP.
Lebanon's army blamed an Israeli rocket which hit a car belonging to the journalists. Israel's army said it was "looking into" who launched the strike.
Two Lebanese civilians were killed in Israeli shelling of a southern village on Saturday, its mayor told AFP. Hezbollah said one of its fighters was also killed by Israeli fire.
Separately, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon said its headquarters was struck by a rocket in the southern town of Naqoura.
"Our headquarters in Naqoura was hit with a rocket and we are working to verify from where. Our peacekeepers were not in shelters at the time. Fortunately, no one was hurt," UNIFIL said in a statement.
"We remind all the parties involved that attacks against civilians or U.N. personnel are violations of international law that may amount to war crimes," it added.
Earlier Sunday Palestinian Islamist group Hamas claimed responsibility for two infiltrations from Lebanon to Israel in which three of its fighters were killed.
On Monday, Hezbollah said Israeli strikes had killed three of its members, after Palestinian militants tried to infiltrate into Israel from Lebanon.
Source: Agence France Presse
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