Lebanese Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri called on the United States, France and the international community to intervene to counter the situation in the border with Israel, minutes after the Lebanese Hezbollah targeted an Israeli military vehicle near the southern border, and Tel Aviv responded by firing on Lebanese towns.
Al-Jazeera's Beirut bureau chief Mazen Ibrahim said Hariri called US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Emmanuel Bonn, an adviser to the French president, asking for intervention to control the southern border with Israel.
He pointed out that Israel fired 30 shells at the towns of Ras Maroun, Yaroun and Aitaroun (southern Lebanon), after Hezbollah fired a Cornet rocket at the Israeli barrier Avimim, and recorded Israeli bursts at the occupied Shebaa Farms.
The occupation forces also fired bullets and shells in the vicinity of the areas controlled by the Shebaa Farms, and Israeli drones flying in the border areas with Lebanon.
Al-Jazeera's bureau chief pointed out that Hizbullah's operation today comes under an unprecedented official political cover for Hizbullah in responding to repeated Israeli violations of Lebanese sovereignty, both in the southern suburbs of Beirut and in the country's southern regions.
UNIFIL
Meanwhile, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said in a statement that it is in urgent contact with all parties to exercise maximum restraint between Lebanon and Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked his cabinet members not to comment on developments on the border with Lebanon, Al-Jazeera correspondent in Jerusalem told reporters ahead of a security meeting that "Lebanon will pay the price."