Israel has received message of restraint from Hezbollah
Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon said Thursday that Israel received a
message from the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah that it was backing
away from further violence, a day after the worst deadly clashes in
years erupted along the border.
The Israel-Lebanon frontier, where two Israeli
soldiers and a Spanish peacekeeper were killed in an exchange of fire
between Hezbollah and Israel, appeared quiet early on Thursday.
Yaalon said Israel had received a message from the
United Nations peacekeeping force in Lebanon that Hezbollah was not
interested in further escalation.
"Indeed, a message was received," he said. "There
are lines of coordination between us and Lebanon via UNIFIL (the UN
force) and such a message was indeed received from Lebanon."
In Beirut, Hezbollah officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
"I can't say whether the events are behind us," Yaalon added in a
separate radio interview. "Until the area completely calms down, the
Israel Defense Forces will remain prepared and ready."
The Israeli soldiers were killed when Hezbollah
fired five missiles at a convoy of Israeli military vehicles. The attack
appeared to be in retaliation for a Jan. 18 Israeli air strike in
southern Syria that killed several Hezbollah members and an Iranian
general.
The peacekeeper in southern Lebanon was killed as
Israel responded with air strikes and artillery fire, a UN spokesman and
Spanish officials said.
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