The 2010 Israel–Lebanon border clash occurred on August 3, 2010, between the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and Israel Defense Forces (IDF), after an IDF team attempted to cut down a tree on the Israeli side of the Blue Line, near the Israeli kibbutz of Misgav Am and the Lebanese village of Odaisseh.UN says trees causing clashes with Lebanon in Israeli side, Xinhua August 4, 2010 A high-ranking IDF officer was killed and another wounded when LAF snipers opened fire on an Israeli observation post after receiving authorization from senior Lebanese commanders. IDF soldiers returned fire and responded with artillery shelling and airstrikes on Lebanese positions, killing two Lebanese soldiers and Al Akhbar correspondent Assaf Abu Rahhal, as well as wounding five soldiers and one journalist. This was the most serious escalation on the border since the 2006 Lebanon War.
The Lebanese Army asserted that it opened fire on Israeli soldiers to contravene the attempt of Israelis to intrude through the border of Lebanon in violation of the internationally recognized border between Israel and Lebanon. Israel claimed that it only crossed over a fence on its side of the Blue Line.UNIFIL says Israelis were in their territory, Beirut refutes claim, Daily Star August 5, 2010 The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) confirmed Israel's position, adding that Israel had informed them of the border work beforehand. Lebanon's Information Minister later stated that "the Blue Line is not the international border and there are areas south of the Blue Line that are Lebanese territory."
The United States condemned the Lebanese fire on Israeli soldiers as "wholly unjustified and unwarranted",PM issues warnings to Lebanon, Hamas, Jerusalem Post April 8, 2010 and in response to the incident the United States House of Representatives announced a suspension of aid to the Lebanese Armed Forces. Lebanon responded by saying that it would decline any military assistance from the United States that is conditioned on its agreeing not to use those weapons against Israel.Lebanon says it will refuse military aid from U.S. that can't be used against Israel Haaretz August 12, 2010
Background
In the weeks leading up to the incident hostile rhetoric was traded between the Lebanese (particularly Hezbollah) and Israeli sides in light of the reports suggesting the Special Tribunal for Lebanon would indict Hezbollah members. Following an impromptu visit to Lebanon by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Syria's Bashar al-Assad just days before the incident, various media in Lebanon and outside said the likelihood of sparking an outbreak of violence eased. Two days before the incident, however, Assad made a statement marking Syria's Army Day warning that "The spectre of real peace in the region is disappearing, and the possibility of war is increasing." There were conflicting reports as to which side provoked the firefight. The Lebanese Army claimed the conflict began when an Israeli patrol attempted to uproot some trees between the Lebanese villages of Odaisseh and Kfar Kila, while the Israel Defense Forces claimed that Lebanese snipers opened fire on an observation post inside Israel while Israeli troops were carrying out routine maintenance on the Israeli side of the border. UNIFIL confirmed the Israeli claim that the soldiers were inside Israeli territory when the clashes erupted.
According to an IDF spokesperson, "the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) fired at an IDF position along the Lebanese border in northern Israel. The soldiers were in Israeli territory, carrying out routine maintenance and was pre-coordinated with UNIFIL." Only then, the spokesperson said, did Israel return fire. The Israel Defense Forces released aerial footage that claims to show the IDF soldiers were standing in Israeli territory when fired on, and "did not cross the Lebanese border." United Nations representatives confirmed the photos. Israeli analysts speculated that a renegade commander sympathetic to Hezbollah may have ordered the attack.
According to Lebanon army officials, Israeli soldiers crossed into Lebanon to uproot trees which according to Israel blocked their view and made surveillance over Lebanon border posts uneasy. A military spokesperson said that upon of overpassing of the border by Israeli troops the Lebanese border defence troops as of first procedure fired warning shots and requested the Israeli troops to cease their unsanctioned actions, however the Israeli troops immediately started a targeted fire on their position, forcing them to return fire in defense. A Lebanese Army official later officially confirmed that Lebanese troops had fired warning shots first, after the Israelis had crossed into Lebanese territory.
Allegations of planned ambush
A report released by senior Israeli officials in Jerusalem accuses the Lebanese army of taking "advantage of the fact that the IDF delayed several hours of maintenance work" near the Lebanese border, to "plan and prepare an ambush" against IDF troops. According to the report, the Israeli Army contacted UNIFIL at 6:00 on August 3 to inform them of maintenance work to commence three hours later. UNIFIL representatives responded that their forces needed extra time to prepare for the IDF presence and requested the IDF delay work until 11:00. The Israeli army delayed the operation by several hours. UNIFIL commanders then told the Lebanese Army of the IDF plans. At this point it was suspected by Israel that the Lebanese military used the extra time to prepare an ambush, even inviting journalists and photographers to the site to observe its aftermath.
IDF officers alleged that Lebanese military called in journalists and photographers in advance of the confrontation. Officials have questioned the large presence of journalists and broadcast trucks at the scene before the clash ensued:
Confrontation
According to the Israeli military the fighting began when a Lebanese Army sniper unit fired on an IDF observation post inside Israeli territory after receiving authorization from Lebanese commanders. The gunshots were fired from a range of about 700 meters from a building in the Lebanese village of Odaisseh. An Israeli military spokeswoman said there were about two or three sniper shots, and that the surprise attack seemed like an ambush. IDF soldiers immediately fired on Lebanese troops with small arms, and the Lebanese returned fire.
The IDF launched a heavy artillery attack targeting Lebanese Army outposts, claiming that the outposts held a "dominating position" and could have posed a threat to troops still on the ground. Israeli artillery fired at an army position in Odaisseh. One artillery shell hit a civilian area.
Several minutes after the confrontation began, an Israeli Air Force AH-64 Apache helicopter gunship attacked a Lebanese Armed Forces command center in the southern Lebanese town of Al Taybeh, destroying several M113 armored personnel carriers.
Throughout these assaults, the IDF had been receiving a number of requests from the senior command levels of the Lebanese Army, asking for a cease-fire to allow the Lebanese to evacuate their casualties. Later, the IDF agreed to a cease-fire, and halted its attacks. Half an hour later, a Lebanese Army rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) team fired a single round at an Israeli tank, but missed. This tank then fired at the Lebanese position from which the attack had come.
UNIFIL report United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) officials in Lebanon said that the IDF informed the organization of its intention to conduct routine maintenance in the area where the Lebanese Army opened fire on IDF soldiers. UNIFIL said Israeli soldiers were inside Israeli territory when the border clashes erupted.
UNIFIL personnel later visited the site of the skirmish. According to Israeli officials who spoke to UNIFIL representatives, UNIFIL determined that Lebanese forces had no reason to fire on Israeli troops. Milos Strugar, a diplomat and senior political advisor to UNIFIL Force Commander Alberto Asarta said he "does not believe IDF soldiers crossed the international border during the maintenance work."Audio + Transcript of Israel Army Radio's Interview with UNIFIL Spokesman , Milos Strugar, Aug 4, 2010
Casualties
The casualties of the incident were: Israeli reserve battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Dov Harari was killed in his observation post when he was shot in the head by a Lebanese sniper. Reserve company commander Captain Ezra Lakia was wounded by Lebanese sniper fire as he stood in the same post, sustaining a gunshot wound to the chest. Two Lebanese soldiers, Sergeant Robert Elias al Ashi and Sergeant Abdullah Mohammad al Tufaili, were killed in an Israeli helicopter attack on a Lebanese military command center in Al Taybeh several miles from the border. Both soldiers were in an M113 armored personnel carrier when it was hit during the airstrike. Five other Lebanese soldiers were wounded by Israeli retaliatory fire. Assaf Abu Rahhal, a journalist for Lebanon's Al-Akhbar newspaper, was killed by Israeli artillery fire in Odaisseh, located several miles behind border. Ali Shuaib, a journalist from the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar television station, was moderately wounded in the same artillery attack.
Reactions
Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he held the Lebanese government "directly accountable for this violent provocation against Israel." He also added that "Israel responded aggressively, and will do so in the future against any attempt to violate the quiet on [our] northern border, and attack residents of the north and the soldiers who are protecting them."
Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned the Lebanese government against continuing to provoke IDF forces. He added that Israel would not tolerate any attacks on soldiers or citizens within its sovereign territory and also called on the international community to condemn the "criminal act carried out by the Lebanese army."
The Foreign Ministry labeled the incident a "severe violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701" and only "one of many violations of Resolution 1701, the most severe of which is the massive rearmament of Hizbullah, including the rearmament of Hizbullah units in southern Lebanon." It declared, "Israel holds the Lebanese government responsible for the grave incident, and warns of the consequences should these continue." Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman "instructed the Israeli diplomatic delegation to the United Nations to file a protest with the UN Secretary General and the Security Council."
Major General Gadi Eisenkot said "It was a planned ambush by a sniper unit ... this was a provocation by the Lebanese army. We view this fire was a highly grave incident. Our forces responded at once, and immediately after that we resorted to artillery and gunship fire." Israel also filed a complaint with the United Nations, alleging that Lebanese soldiers opened fire despite the IDF having informed UNIFIL forces in advance of its plan to cut down a tree along the border fence.
Former Israeli Defense minister Shaul Mofaz called the incident a "planned terror attack" and said he had "no doubt that Hizbullah was involved in the Lebanese Army's actions." Mofaz also criticized UNIFIL's involvement, stating that their "inability to prevent the Lebanese Army from firing on IDF soldiers proves their incompetence."
Israeli sources also alleged that UNIFIL forces said the Lebanese soldiers had no reason to open fire as the Israeli army was conducting routine activity. Government officials in Israel have criticized the United States and France for supporting Lebanon's military in the wake of the border clash. The US has provided Lebanon with over 400 million in military aid, and France has supplied the military with advanced anti-tank missiles.