By Yara Bayoumy
Beirut - The United Nations peacekeeping force in south Lebanon said on Wednesday Israeli soldiers were operating inside Israel when a deadly firefight broke out with Lebanese troops in the most serious border violence since a 2006 war.
A day after a senior Israeli officer, two Lebanese soldiers and a Lebanese journalist were killed in a rare skirmish that raised fears of wider conflict, Israel's military seemed keen to show it would not be deterred from activity in the area.
There was no repeat of Tuesday's clash when the Israeli army moved a crane back into the tense border zone to complete a tree-pruning mission that had drawn Lebanese army fire.
Iranian-backed Hezbollah, which stayed out of the fighting, vowed to "cut off the hand" of Israel if it attacked the army again. But its leader doubted the incident would spark a war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Lebanon was responsible for the cross-border flare-up and threatened a forceful response to further attacks.
"Our policy is clear, Israel responds and will continue to respond with force, to any attack against its citizens and soldiers," Netanyahu said in a televised speech.
In a diplomatic boost for Israel, the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Israeli soldiers were inside Israeli territory when the border clashes erupted.
"UNIFIL established that the trees being cut by the Israeli army are located south of the Blue Line on the Israeli side," said UNIFIL military spokesperson Lieutenant-Colonel Naresh Bhatt, referring to a border line drawn by the United Nations after Israeli troops withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000.
A three-way meeting between the Lebanese and Israeli armies and UNIFIL was due to take place on Wednesday night. - Reuters