Nicholas Blanford
Daily Star staff

Hezbollah anti-aircraft gunners fired at Israeli warplanes Wednesday for the third day in a row amid indications that the resistance has deployed more AA batteries along the border.
Hezbollah said its anti-aircraft unit at 11.10am fired at Israeli jets flying over the eastern sector of the border district. The source of the firing was between Beaufort Castle and Deir Mimes village, the first time Hezbollah has fired AA rounds from there.
Hezbollah appears to have at least four 57mm AA batteries now deployed in the border area: Beaufort Castle-Deir Mimes, Markaba, Maroun er-Ras and Teir Harfa.
Meanwhile, UNIFIL said it is investigating a cross-border shooting incident Tuesday in which Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops exchanged fire at the former border crossing, 2 kilometers south of Rmaish.
UNIFIL spokesman Timur Goksel confirmed that Fijian peacekeepers heard “three single rifle shots followed by a short burst of automatic rifle fire in the area” between 1.34pm and 1.40pm Tuesday.
“The Israeli Army informed UNIFIL that their … vehicle was hit. Hezbollah informed UNIFIL that one of their observation posts was hit. UNIFIL is investigating,” Goksel said.
Hezbollah said Israeli troops shot first and that the fighters returned fire. The Israeli Army denied this.
It was the first shooting across the Lebanon-Israel frontier between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops since May 2000, but not the first incident between the two foes. In January, at least one Hezbollah fighter manning a border observation post near Ramieh was temporarily blinded when Israeli soldiers directed a tank’s laser range finder at him. Hezbollah warned it would retaliate. UNIFIL relayed the message to Israel’s northern command.
The Israeli military said the laser beaming had not been intentional and blamed undisciplined soldiers. Quiet diplomacy averted a crisis, but the incident underlined daily tensions along the border.

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