5 killed; US, UN urge restraint Hezbollah says won't stay silent ADAISSEH, Lebanon – An Israeli helicopter fired two missiles at a Lebanese army post near Adaisseh village, destroying an armored personnel carrier. A security source said three Lebanese soldiers and a Lebanese journalist were killed and five people wounded. Witnesses said Israeli artillery also fired at the village. Hezbollah's Al-Manar Television said a high-ranking Israeli soldier was killed on the border in the exchange of fire, the most serious violence along the frontier since a 2006 war. The UN and the US urged both sides to show restraint. Hezbollah fighters, who battled Israel four years ago, took no part in the exchange of fire. But Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said the group would not stand silent if Israel attacked the Lebanese army in the future. Lebanon and Israel gave different accounts of the events leading up to the clash and the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said it had yet to ascertain the circumstances leading to the bloodshed. The Lebanese army said an Israeli patrol had crossed the technical line of the border although UN peacekeepers had told it to stop. “A Lebanese army force then repelled it using rocket propelled grenades.,” it said. Nasrallah said he did not think Tuesday's clash would lead to a bigger conflict. “I don't expect a war to happen soon ... but there are reasons for worry,” he said. The US called for both sides to exercise restraint. “The last thing that we want to see is that this incident expand into something more significant,” State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said in Washington. The UN Security Council also voiced concern. “The members of the Security Council called on all parties to practice utmost restraint, strictly abide by their obligations under resolution 1701, observe the cessation of hostilities and prevent any further escalation on the Blue Line,” Russian UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told reporters after a council meeting. Tuesday's deaths were the first on either side since the 2006 war in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in Lebanon, along with 158 Israelis, mostly soldiers. Lebanon's Higher Council for Defense headed by President Michel Suleiman said it held Israel accountable for Tuesday's clash and it would complain to the UN Security Council. Israel complained to the UN Security Council over the clash. Hezbollah's Nasrallah, addressing tens of thousands of supporters via video link, said: “I say honestly, that in any place where the Lebanese army will be assaulted and there's a presence for the resistance, and it is capable, the resistance will not stand silent, or quiet or restrained.” Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad telephoned Suleiman to offer support and Prime Minister Saad Al-Hariri spoke to a number of leaders, including French President Nicolas Sarkozy and asked for France's help in ending what he called “Israeli aggressive practices against Lebanon and its army”.
