Fierce clashes between Israeli army and Hezbollah

Gun battles erupted Thursday between Hezbollah fighters and the Israeli occupation forces, the second day running in the worst violence for months at the Lebanese border.

There was no report of Israeli casualties.

The Israeli army said it had attacked Hezbollah posts, but the Lebanese resistance groups didn’t comments on the report.

On Wednesday, an Israeli soldier was killed when Hezbollah fighters attacked the Israeli army in the Shebaa Farms area.

Wednesday clashes came after it has been reported that the Israeli forces have been reinforcing fortifications along the frontier between the Shebaa Farms and Lebanon, installing new barbed-wire barriers and surveillance cameras.

The Shiite movement’s television, Al-Manar, reported yesterday that one Israeli soldier was killed and five others wounded in clashes with Hezbollah fighters.

The clashes broke out Wednesday, when around 20 Katyusha rockets and mortar rounds were fired at the Ramta and Sammaqiyeh positions in the Shebaa Farms, according to security sources in Lebanon.

Hezbollah also fired artillery on Israeli army positions at Aamfit, on the Golan Heights.

Yesterday, the U.S. State Department defended the Israeli retaliation.

"I have seen some news reports. I think information is still coming in with respect to these events and exactly what happened," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.

"But I think that based on the information we have now, I would just make clear that in our view Israel has a right to defend itself," he said. "And beyond that, I'm not able to offer any further comment."

In 2000, Hezbollah succeeded in ending the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, but the two foes frequently engage in fierce fighting in the Shebaa Farms.

While the United Nations says that Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon is complete and that the Shebaa Farms is Israeli-occupied Syrian land. Lebanon and Syria insist that the area is still occupied Lebanese soil.

Last year, the UN passed a resolution demanding Syria to withdraw from Lebanon and calling on Hezbollah to disarm.

And last April, Syria completed its troop withdrawal from Lebanon.