Hezbollah, IDF exchange heavy fire near northern border

07/05/2004 The militant Lebanese group Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles and shelled Israel Defense Forces outposts in the Har Dov area near the Lebanese border early on Friday. The incident began before 5 A.M. and ended shortly after 7 A.M. Fires reportedly broke out as a result of the shelling. IDF artillery batteries reportedly returned heavy fire toward the sources of fire, near the village of Shuba in south Lebanon. Israel Air Force jets bombed Hezbollah targets and helicopters were reportedly patrolling the area. Hezbollah radio station al-Manar reported on Friday that the group started shelling the IDF outposts after Israeli soldiers crossed the international border. Hezbollah seldom executes early morning assaults and most of the organization’s attacks are carried out in the late afternoon, before sunset. On Thursday, Lebanon complained to the United Nations about Israeli overflights and an Israeli airstrike on a suspected guerrilla hideout in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said. Early Thursday morning, IDF soldiers stationed on Har Dov sighted and opened fire on two groups of potential infiltrators approaching from Lebanon. At around 5 A.M. Thursday, an IDF soldier observed a group of five individuals wearing flak jackets approaching the Har Dov post from Lebanese territory.


The group did not cross the international border into Israeli territory, but did come very close to the IDF post, causing the soldiers there to open fire in order to deter the group. The five did not return fire. A short time later, troops identified a second group and opened fire on the them as well. Lebanon has repeatedly complained to the United Nations about Israeli overflights. Hezbollah has made it policy to retaliate by firing at the planes. Some of the anti-aircraft shells land across the border in Israel. In one incident in August, an Israeli teenager was killed by shrapnel from Hezbollah shells. In its complaint to the United Nations, the Foreign Ministry said Lebanon „reserves its right to retaliate” for Israeli actions. Lebanese Defense Minister Mahmoud Hammoud said Thursday that Israeli violations of Lebanese airspace were a „blatant attack on Lebanon’s sovereignty” and called on the UN Security Council to stop them. BPI.