LAF alleged to have used UNIFIL-requested delay to plan ambush.
By JPOST.COM STAFFmofaz gevergever 298.175(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Kadima MK Shaul Mofaz on Wednesday called the incident on the Lebanon border in which Lebanese Army snipers opened fire on IDF soldiers, killing Lt.-Col. (res) Dov Harari a "planned terror attack."In an interview with Army Radio, the former defense minister added that he had no doubt that Hizbullah was involved in the Lebanese Army's actions on the border on Tuesday.RELATED:UNIFIL: We knew about maintenanceUS urges maximum restraintPhoto gallery: Unrest on the northern borderMofaz was very critical of the UNIFIL forces in southern Lebanon, stating that their inability to prevent the Lebanese Army from firing on IDF soldiers proves their incompetence.Also Wednesday, a senior official in Jerusalem told Israel Radio that the Lebanese Army had taken advantage of the fact that the IDF delayed by several hours maintenance work near the Lebanese border on Tuesday, in order to plan and prepare an ambush on IDF forces.According to the report, the IDF told UNIFIL at 6 a.m. on Tuesday that they planned to do maintenance work at approximately 9 a.m. UNIFIL responded that their forces needed time to prepare for the IDF presence in the enclave between the Israeli border and the international border and requested that the IDF delay the maintenance work until 11 a.m. UNIFIL relayed to the Lebanese Army forces in the area the IDF's plans and the Lebanese used the extra time to prepare an ambush on the IDF forces and to invite journalists and photographers to the site.IDF continues clearing tree, PM blames Lebanon for attackThe IDF prepared Wednesday to complete the routine maintenance it was conducting on the Lebanese border Tuesday when Lebanese Army forces opened fire.The IDF brought a large security force to the area in armored vehicles in order to finish the tree clearing activities.Facing the first deadly cross-border skirmish in the North since coming into office in March 2009, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday that he held the Lebanese government directly responsible for the “violent provocation” that killed one officer and left another seriously wounded.Following consultations throughout the day with senior security, intelligence and diplomatic officials, Netanyahu issued a statement saying Israel viewed the incident “very gravely,” and saw it as a blatant violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which put an end to the Second Lebanon War in 2006.
“I see the Lebanese government as directly responsible for this violent provocation against Israel,” he said. “Israel responded, and will respond aggressively in the future, to all efforts to disturb the quiet on the northern border and harm the citizens of the North and the soldiers protecting them.”Yaakov Katz contributed to this report.
