BEIRUT
A Spanish UN peacekeeper was killed on Wednesday when Israel shelled targets in southern Lebanon following an attack by Hezbollah on an Israeli army patrol near the border, a Lebanese security official has said.
The slain peacekeeper had been part of the UN Mission in Libya (UNFIL), which is stationed in Lebanon's Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms region, the official told The Anadolu Agency.
UNIFIL officials were not immediately available for comment.
Earlier Wednesday, Lebanon's Shiite Hezbollah group claimed responsibility for an attack on an Israeli military vehicle in the Shebaa Farms region, which, it said, had killed several Israeli troops.
The Israeli media, for its part, had earlier reported that at least four Israeli troops had been injured in the Shebaa Farms region when their vehicle was struck by anti-tank missiles.
The attack came ten days after Hezbollah accused Israel of killing six of its fighters – along with six Iranians – in a drone strike in the Syrian town of Quneitra.
The slain fighters had included two Hezbollah commanders and the son of Imad Mughniyah, a Hezbollah leader killed by a car bomb in Syria in 2008.
Until now, Israel has neither confirmed nor denied the airstrike that killed the Hezbollah men and the Iranians.
For over two years, Hezbollah has been openly engaged in the conflict in Syria, where it continues to fight alongside Syrian regime forces.
In 2006, Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34-day war in which more than 1,200 Lebanese – mostly civilians – were killed.
In the same conflict, 160 Israelis – mostly soldiers – were killed.
