Officials: Israeli soldier killed by gunfire from Lebanon

An Israeli soldier was killed Sunday when Lebanese forces opened fire along the two countries’ volatile border, Israeli military officials said.

The officials said that shots were fired at a military vehicle traveling along the border, and that the sniper was a member of the Lebanese military.

Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for U.N. forces in southern Lebanon, said the United Nations was informed of a "serious incident along the blue line around Ras Naqoura." He said that the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), which has had a mandate since 1978 to prevent hostilities between the two countries, was in contact with both the Lebanese and Israeli armies, and that they were cooperating.

"The incident happened on the Israeli side of the blue line," he said, referring to a U.N.-drawn line demarcating the border between the two enemy states.

Tenenti declined to provide further details, saying UNIFIL was still attempting to determine exactly what had happened.

Lt. Col. Peter Lerner, an Israeli army spokesman, said Israel had protested "this outrageous breach of Israel's sovereignty" with U.N. peacekeeping forces, and heightened its state of preparedness.

"We will not tolerate aggression against the state of Israel, and maintain the right to exercise self-defense against perpetrators of attacks against Israel and its civilians," he said.

The Lebanese National News Agency said the shooting occurred near the Naqoura border crossing, but the report did not provide more details. Lebanese security officials did not immediately comment.

It was not clear why the Lebanese soldiers opened fire. The army has fired in the past, saying that it did so because Israeli soldiers had tried to infiltrate the border area.

Israel fought a war in 2006 against Lebanon's Hezbollah movement, after the group's fighters crossed into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers. The ensuing Israeli military operation touched off a month-long conflict that led to the deaths of about 1,200 Lebanese and 160 Israelis.

Al Jazeera and the Associated Press