BEIRUT, Aug 14 (Reuters) – Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan
Nasrallah claimed responsibility on Wednesday for explosions
which wounded four Israeli soldiers who infiltrated into
southern Lebanon last week.
Nasrallah told Beirut-based Al-Mayadeen television that
Hezbollah fighters planted bombs in an area they knew in advance
Israeli soldiers would pass through, and detonated one of them
when a first group of special forces reached the area.
A second bomb was triggered when Israeli reinforcements
arrived on the scene, Nasrallah said, giving the group’s first
account of an incident about which Israeli military officials
have given few details.
The Lebanese army said last week the Israeli soldiers had
crossed 400 metres into Lebanese territory when the blasts
occurred. An Israeli spokesman said only that four soldiers were
wounded during “an activity near the border”.
“This was a controlled and deliberate operation,” Nasrallah
said of the explosions. “It was not accidental, and was not
(caused by) a landmine left behind by the Israeli occupation.”
Nasrallah did not say how the Hezbollah fighters knew in
advance of the Israeli incursion, but said the group “will not
accept these territorial violations” into Lebanon.
The border between Israel and Lebanon has been largely quiet
since Israel and Hezbollah fought a month-long war in 2006.
(Reporting by Dominic Evans; Editing by Alison Williams)
