Israel attacks Hezbollah positions in Lebanon in response to last night's shooting

The Israeli army attacked Shiite Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon this morning after its troops came under fire from that area, triggering a security alert last night and confining the border population.

Last night "shots were fired from Lebanon" at Israeli troops carrying out operations in the border area which did not cause any injuries, a military spokesman reported.

The army initially reacted by firing flares and smoke projectiles, blocking roads and ordering residents of five towns in the area to stay home, and later, "during the night, helicopters and fighter planes attacked Hezbollah observation posts" on the other side of the line of separation, a military note said.

Israel "holds the Lebanese government responsible for all the events that take place from Lebanon", the letter pointed out, adding that it considers "any attempt to violate its sovereignty" a "serious" event that it views "with great severity".

The restrictions imposed last night on the civilian population in the area have been lifted.

At the end of July another incident was recorded in the area, an exchange of fire between the army and Hezbollah forces, which according to the latter attempted to cross the dividing line. The incident occurred days after the Lebanese militia threatened to avenge the death of one of its members in an attack in Syria attributed to Israel.