Israeli troops on Friday shot and wounded two Lebanese youths who threw stones at Israeli positions across the border, witnesses told Reuters. Meanwhile, Syria accused Israel of “changing the rules of the game,” warning of a possible similar attitude on its part.
Reuters said that the two injured, who were on the Lebanese side of the defunct crossing point of Fatma gate, were taken to a hospital in the town of Nabatiyeh with leg injuries.
The shootings took place on a day of reportedly heavy Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace, the fourth consecutive day of such action since Hizbollah guerrillas fired on Israeli troops in a disputed part of the Lebanon-Israel border.
Israeli jets flew low over southern Lebanon. They also circled over the western and central Bekaa Valley, northeast of where Hizbollah fighters fired rockets on Israeli positions in the Shabaa Farms on Monday.
Witnesses said an Israeli reconnaissance plane circled over the Shabaa Farms and Kfar Shouba, which is inside Lebanon and near the spot from which Hizbollah fired. Israeli troops were also seen reinforcing their outposts in the Shabaa Farms.
The border has remained a flashpoint despite Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon after a 22-year occupation last year. Hizbollah is holding three Israeli soldiers it seized in a cross-border ambush in Shabaa last October.
Israeli military officials said their troops opened fire as a group tried to destroy a border fence in an area where the Lebanese regularly demonstrate against Israel and throw stones, said the agency.
Meanwhile, visiting Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq Shara commented on the Israeli violations by accusing the Jewish state of altering the rules of the game, saying that if Israel insisted on its policies, “Syria will also change the game's rules,” according to a report by Al Jazeera satellite channel.
Shara arrived in Beirut Friday for talks with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud.
Reports said that Syrian President Bashar Assad cut short his Wednesday visit to Cairo after he received a report of an imminent Israeli attack on his country – Albawaba.com
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