Though exactly what happened still remains a matter of dispute, Israeli troops shelled a Lebanese border patrol today, killing three soldiers and a journalist, while Lebanese troops fired across the border killing an Israeli soldier as well.
Lebanon insisted the Israeli soldiers crossed the border and cut down a tree, sparking the clash, while Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak insisted that the “Murderous Lebanese” embarked on an act of terror and the troops responded in self defense.
Though tensions have been high for months, this is the largest direct clash at the border since Israel invaded Lebanon in 2006, sparking a war which killed some 1,200 civilians, the vast majority of them Lebanese.
Israel’s Netanyahu government has been threatening to invade Lebanon for the past 12 months, initially because they didn’t like the results of the last Lebanese election and later because Lebanon has objected to Israeli offshore gas sites built off Lebanon’s southern coast.