Hezbollah fighters battle Israeli troops on northern frontier

Israeli forces exchanged fire with Hezbollah fighters along the volatile Israeli-Lebanese frontier on Monday.

Hezbollah carried out the operation against Israeli soldiers in the disputed Shebaa Farms area, Reuters news agency cited unnamed sources familiar with the situation as saying.

One Lebanese source said Hezbollah had fired a guided missile at an Israeli tank. However, Israeli military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Jonathan Conricus told reporters that he was unaware of any such incident.

The incident occurred in the Shebaa Farms area, which is occupied by Israel and claimed by Lebanon. The United Nations regards the territory as part of Syrian land captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.

A Lebanese source familiar with Monday’s operation said Hezbollah’s attack was in retaliation for the death of a Hezbollah fighter killed in an apparent Israeli strike on the edge of Damascus last Monday.