Clash along the Israeli-Lebanese border

         The United Nations force in southern Lebanon, UNIFIL, has launched an investigation into an incident between Israeli and Lebanese soldiers. Lebanese security sources say that the Lebanese military is on high alert in the Wazani area along the border. But according to these sources, there were no casualties in the incident as earlier reported. Previously, the word from Lebanon was that seven Israeli soldiers crossed the border Monday morning, 20 meters into Lebanese territory. A Lebanese news agency said that Lebanese troops fired at the Israeli soldiers, forcing them back into Ghajer village. Lebanese media reported that a Lebanese soldier had been killed, but later it was denied. A Kol Yisrael reporter says that Israel has relayed a message through UNIFIL that it has no intention of escalating the violence. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has reacted to both the Lebanese and Kalandia incidents. Speaking at a closed-door meeting of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the prime minister is said to have told committee members that Israel is not interested in heating up the Lebanese border, as he put it. The prime minister maintained that the Israeli soldiers acted appropriately. "They have to defend themselves and the border," Netanyahu said. On the incident at Kalandia, the prime minister said the intention of the Palestinians was to harm the Israeli soldiers, and for their part, the soldiers have the right to defend themselves.(14,07)