Explosion along Lebanon-Israel border wounds 3 members off militant group Hezbollah
BEIRUT (AP) — An explosion near Lebanon’s border with Israel slightly wounded at least three members of the militant Hezbollah group, a Lebanese security official said.
The three Hezbollah members were taken to a hospital near the scene of the blast in the village Bustan in southern Lebanese province of Bustan, the official said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
The Israeli army said a number of suspects “approached the northern security fence with Lebanon and attempted to sabotage the security fence in the area.” It added that the Israeli military immediately spotted the suspects and used means to distance them. The identity of the suspects is unknown, it said. It posted surveillance footage showing four people in civilian clothing approaching the border fence, and running away after the explosion.
The incident took place hours before Hezbollah Secretary-General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was scheduled to speak to commemorate the start of a monthlong war between Israel and the militant group in 2006 that ended with a draw.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the army “deterred activists with nonlethal means.” The army told The Associated Press that soldiers the explosion came from a stun grenade used to push them away.
“Anyone who tries us will get an answer,” Gallant said. “We have a lot to do and we will know how to do what is needed at the right time.”
U.N. peacekeeping forces along the southern Lebanese border, known as UNIFIL, said they were investigating the situation.
“In the meantime, the situation is extremely severe,” UNIFIL said. “We urge everyone to cease any action that may lead to escalation of any kind.”
Hezbollah had no immediate comment on the incident.
Lebanese officials said that Israel in recent weeks has built a wall around the Lebanese part of Ghajar, a border town that straddles between the tiny Mediterranean country and Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights. Lebanon’s foreign minister asked the country’s permanent mission to the United Nations to file a complaint on the matter.
Israel meanwhile in June filed a complaint with the U.N. claiming that Hezbollah had set up tents several dozen meters (yards) within Israeli territory. It’s unclear what the tents were used for and what was inside them. They were erected in Chebaa Farms and the Kfar Chouba hills, which Israeli captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981, though Lebanon claims the area belongs to them.
Israel considers Hezbollah its most serious immediate threat, and estimates that it has some 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel.
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Josef Federman and Julia Frankel contributed to this report from Jerusalem.