UN peacekeepers: Tree at center of deadly Lebanon-Israel border clash was in Israeli territory

UN: Tree in Lebanon-Israel clash was in Israel

BEIRUT — A cypress tree at the center of the most serious clash along the Lebanon-Israel border in the past four years was in Israeli territory, the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon said Wednesday.

Lebanese and Israeli troops exchanged fire Tuesday in a fierce border battle that killed a senior Israeli officer, two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist. The violence started when Lebanese opened fire after Israel tried to cut down a tree along the border, something the military has done in the past to improve its sight lines into Lebanon.

But both sides claimed the tree was in their territory.

It was the worst fighting in the region since the Israel-Hezbollah war in 2006.

Also Wednesday, the Israeli military said it is uprooting more trees in the same area.

Lt. Naresh Bhatt, a spokesman for the U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, UNIFIL, said Wednesday the peacekeepers have determined Israel was only cutting down trees on the Israeli side.

Bhatt said the peacekeepers were still investigating the violence but “UNIFIL established, however, that the trees being cut by the Israeli army are located south of the Blue Line on the Israeli side.”

The Israeli military spokesman said the army was “continuing operations as usual” on Wednesday. The official spoke on customary condition of anonymity.

The clash highlighted the volatility of the frontier, where Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah militants fought a war four years ago.

Both Israel and Lebanon appeared to be trying to restore calm to the area.

Officers from the Lebanese and Israeli armies and the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon were planning to meet later Wednesday along the border, UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said. The gathering had been planned before Tuesday’s fighting, but it has taken a new urgency now.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio: “I hope we will have a quiet summer and things will return to their normal course.”

Associated Press Writer Amy Teibel contributed to this report from Jerusalem.