Israeli and Lebanese troops have exchanged fire along the countries' border, officials say.
The Israeli and Lebanese sides offered different accounts of Monday's incident, which did not appear to have caused casualties.
The Israeli military said its army unit on a routine patrol within Israeli territory when it received fire on Monday morning from over the border in Lebanon near Ghajar, a disputed village which straddles a strategic corner where boundaries between Syria, Israel and Lebanon meet.
It said UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force stationed on the border, was informed of the incident, which took place at dawn.
A Lebanese army official told the media that the incident occurred when Israeli solders crossed the Blue Line, the UN-drawn border with Lebanon which was established in 2000.
"An Israeli patrol in the Wazzani area crossed the Blue Line and went beyond it about 30m," the official told various news agencies on condition of anonymity.
"Lebanese troops stationed in the area fired warning shots," he said. "The Israeli patrol retreated and then fired at Lebanese army posts."
Neeraj Singh, the UNIFIL spokesman, confirmed the incident but did not elaborate on whether Israeli troops had violated the Blue Line or not.
"We can confirm that at around 7am this morning there was a brief exchange of fire between the Lebanese army and the Israeli army along the Blue Line in the general area of Wazzani," Singh said.
"UNIFIL peacekeepers immediately responded to the location in order to contain the situation and prevent any escalation.
"The firing has since ceased and the situation in the area is quiet. No casualties have been reported".
Singh said the UN force had opened an investigation into the shooting.
The last act of violence on the Israeli-Lebanese border was in May when Israeli soldiers fired on Palestinian demonstrators who swarmed the Lebanese frontier in an act of protest to commemorate the Nakba, the 1948 displacement of 700,000 Palestinians during the creation of Israel.
Monday's fire exchange also came almost exactly a year after the two countries' troops traded fire, leaving two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist killed along with a senior Israeli officer.
Israel fought a war in 2006 war against the Lebanese Shia political and military group, Hezbollah.
In an another incident of violence on Monday, two Palestinian men were killed during an arrest raid on Qalandiya refugee camp in the West Bank's south.
One man was shot in the head and the other in the abdomen. The Israeli army claimed the men were involved in rock-throwing and scuffles with Israeli solders.
Monday, August 1, 2011
Israeli soldiers killed two Palestinians in West Bank
Two Palestinians 23 and 25 years old were shot by Israeli soldiers.Palestine presidency blamed Israel for such crime and considered her responsible for it,while israeli military spokes said that the israeli army is investigating the matter.
Germany calls for UN meeting on Syria crisis
Germany has requested a meeting of the UN Security Council on Monday to discuss the escalating violence in Syria, as the death toll continues to mount one day after tanks and troops launched an assault on the Sunni Muslim city of Hama.
Syrians mark bleak Ramadan after 80 killed in Hama
Syrians began the Muslim Ramadan fast in sombre mood on Monday after troops stormed into Hama, scene of a 1982 massacre, in one of the bloodiest days of a five-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
Rights activists said 80 civilians were killed in Sunday's tank-backed assault on the central Syrian city where Assad's father crushed an armed Muslim Brotherhood revolt 29 years ago by razing neighbourhoods and killing many thousands of people.
Security forces had besieged the Sunni Muslim city of 700,000 for nearly a month before Sunday's crackdown on the eve of Ramadan, a holy month when Muslims fast in daylight hours.
Many people flock to mosque prayers at night, occasions which may provide opportunities for protests to multiply across Syria.
The Syrian state news agency said the military entered Hama to purge armed groups that were terrorising citizens, an account dismissed as "nonsense" by a U.S. diplomat in Damascus.
The agency said eight police personnel were killed while "confronting armed terrorist groups" in Hama.
Residents said tanks began pounding neighbourhoods of the city after attacking from several directions in a dawn assault.
Footage posted on social media showed large parts of the city covered in smoke, and panic-stricken groups surrounding the bodies of dead or wounded people in the streets as gunfire rang out. Reuters could not independently verify the content of the videos.
U.S. President Barack Obama said he was appalled by the Syrian government's "horrifying" violence against its people in Hama and promised to work with others to isolate Assad.
"Syria will be a better place when a democratic transition goes forward," Obama said in a statement.
Britain and France condemned the Hama assault. Italy urged a tough statement by the U.N. Security Council, where Russia and China have previously opposed any condemnation of Syria.
Bashar al-Assad praised troops for "foiling the enemies" of Syria
President Bashar al-Assad praised troops for "foiling the enemies" of Syria, state news agency SANA said on Monday, a day after security forces reportedly killed nearly 140 in a crackdown on protests.
Rebels subdue 'rogue pro-Gaddafi faction'
Libya's opposition forces have launched an attack against what they say was a pro-Gaddafi armed group operating under the opposition's banner in the country's east.
The opposition's forces had overrun the base of the al-Nidaa Brigade, the pro-government faction, after five hours of fighting near the opposition stronghold Benghazi, according to spokesman Mahmoud Shamam.
He said that four peopled were killed and six others wounded in the clash, which involved the use of heavy weapons.
Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley, reporting from Benghazi, said the battle was launched to subdue elements of Muammar Gaddafi's forces that had been operating as a "fifth column" within the opposition ranks.
"According to sources here there is no connection with the attack and the death of [General Abdel Fattah Younes]," said Birtley, who added that documents were found on the defeated faction that linked it to Gaddafi.
Deadly Syrian crackdown continues
A witness in Deir ez-Zor told Al Jazeera that government forces launched fresh attacks on the town early on Monday morning.
"Artillery and anti-aircraft weapons are being used. The situation in the city is very bad, and medical and food supplies are low.""Military forces stormed the city from the west side and 25 people are killed and more than 65 injured," the witness said.
Deir ez-Zor, Syria's main gas and oil-production hub in the east, has become a rallying point for protests along with Hama.
Sunday's attack on Hama was one of the "deadliest days" since the protests erupted, Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said.
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