Lebanese paper claims Israel wants unit commander held accountable.
By JPOST.COM STAFFLebanese Soldiers 311(photo credit: Associated Press)
The Israeli government has requested that Lebanon court-martial the commander of the Lebanese unit that fired at IDF troops across the border in a deadly confrontation that occurred earlier in the week, Army Radio quoted from the Lebanese newspaper An-Nahar on Friday.According to the Lebanese paper, Israeli officials were supposed to have threatened to "take revenge" against the Lebanese commander for the death of Lt. Col. (res.) Dov Harari if Lebanon did not adequately resolve the issue. The report also said Israel threatened that if the issue was not handled satisfactorily the IDF would then view the Lebanese Armed Forces along the border as an enemy force and the IDF would respond to any future attacks with "an aggressive response without precedent."RELATED:Editorial: Attacked by LebanonCongress may pull Lebanon military aidPM issues warnings to Lebanon, HamasIsraeli officials did not acknowledge the accuracy of the reports, Army Radio reported.The violent confrontation began around noon on Tuesday, when a force from Harari’s IDF reserve battalion entered an Israeli enclave along the north side of the border fence near Kibbutz Misgav Am to conduct routine maintenance work.Harari, 45, from Netanya, was shot dead by a sniper from the LAF, and a company commander from his battalion, Capt. Ezra Lakia, sustained a gunshot wound to the chest.The soldiers had coordinated their movement beyond the fence with UNIFIL and were working to cut down a tree when shots were fired in their direction.Harari was buried in the military cemetery in Netanya on Wednesday, at a funeral attended by hundreds.
