ABBASIEH, Lebanon: U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanese soldiers were patrolling the border with Israel Thursday, a day after Hezbollah launched a revenge attack on Israel for the recent killing of six party members and an Iranian general in Syria's Golan Heights.
The patrols came after Israel responded to the Hezbollah attack with artillery shelling on several areas of south Lebanon.
Guns fell silent Wednesday after calls for restraint at around 2 p.m.
Dozens of 82 mm shells, exploded and unexploded, were found by shepherds Thursday after being fired by Israel in the wake of Hezbollah’s attack.
“I had lost some of my sheep after the Israeli shelling yesterday prompted me to run for my life,” shepherd Rifaat Ahmad said in Wazzani. “But thank God I just found them.”
Despite the calm, Israel remains on high alert. At least five Israeli reconnaissance jets Thursday flew over the Marjayoun-Shebaa Farms area where Hezbollah chose to launch its attack.
Meanwhile, the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), together with the Lebanese Army, was inspecting the sites of the shelling and the surrounding area.
Sources told The Daily Star Wednesday at least eight shells landed in the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms, and several others crashed into nearby Majidieh, a town comprised primarily of agricultural land along the Wazzani River and opposite occupied Ghajar.
Spanish troops operating with UNIFIL carried out routine patrols in their area of operations in Abbasieh.
A Spanish peacekeeper was killed in south Lebanon during the border violence. Spain held Israel responsible for his death.
Israel said Thursday it received a message from Hezbollah that it did not want an escalation in violence.
Prime Minister Tammam Salam has also received assurances that the latest wave of violence won’t lead to war.
Sources close to the prime minister told The Daily Star that the assurances came after Salam carried out urgent calls to Lebanon’s allies in the West and the Middle East as well as with local officials.
A Cabinet meeting underway now at the Grand Serail will focus on developments in south Lebanon.
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