The United Nations Security Council has urged Israel and Lebanon to show 'utmost restraint' following a border clash that left five people dead. The incident, which occurred on Tuesday, is the most serious since the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.
Three Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist, and an Israeli officer were killed in the fighting. Both sides blamed each other for the escalation. The Lebanese army claimed Israeli soldiers crossed the border to uproot a tree, while Israel denied crossing and said it would respond 'aggressively' to any attack.
UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon reported no evidence of Israeli soldiers crossing the border. The Security Council, in a statement read by Russia's UN envoy Vitaly Churkin, emphasised the need for both sides to 'strictly abide by their obligations' under the UN resolution that ended the 2006 war.
The US also called for restraint, with state department spokesman PJ Crowley stating, 'The region has enough tension as it is, the last thing that we want to see is that this incident expand into something more significant.'
