Israel, Hezbollah play down war fears
Israel yesterday burried two soldiers killed in a Hezbollah missile strike that triggered Israeli fire on southern Lebanon, raising tensions between the bitter enemies to their highest in years.
But the Israeli-Lebanese border was calm, and Israeli officials played down the threat of a new war with the powerful Iran-backed Shia group's militia.
In an unusual declaration, Israeli Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said Hezbollah had passed on a message through the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon saying it did not want a further escalation.
"We have received a message... that, from their point of view, the incident is over," he told public radio.
Analysts say neither side seems keen for a repeat of the devastating Israel-Hezbollah conflict in 2006 and that any response is likely to be limited.
The two soldiers were killed when Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles at a convoy in an Israeli-occupied area on the border with Lebanon.
Israeli forces responded to the attack -- which came in retaliation for an Israeli strike on the Golan Heights that killed senior Hezbollah members -- with artillery, tank and air fire on several villages in southern Lebanon.
There were no reports of Lebanese casualties, but a 36-year-old Spanish peacekeeper with UNIFIL was killed in the exchange of fire.
In Israel, farmers were tending apple orchards close to the border fence, an AFP photographer said. Schools had reopened, as had the Mount Hermon ski resort in the Israeli-occupied portion of the Golan Heights.
Israel said it considered Wednesday's attack the "most severe" it had faced since 2006, when the war with Hezbollah killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and some 160 Israelis, mostly soldiers.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the attack on Iran.
"It is Iran that is responsible for yesterday's attack," he said at a memorial ceremony in southern Israel for late prime minister Ariel Sharon.
"This is the same Iran that is now trying to achieve an agreement, via the major powers, that would leave it with the ability to develop nuclear weapons, and we strongly oppose this agreement," he said.
Israel has threatened military action to stop arch-foe Iran obtaining atomic weapons. Tehran insists its programme is only for civilian purposes.
Netanyahu held talks with top security brass late Wednesday, warning afterwards: "Those behind today's attack will pay the full price."
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