Israeli forces on Sunday shot and wounded a man who crossed into the Israeli Golan Heights from Lebanon. The man was taken to an Israeli hospital for treatment, the military said.
The man crossed the border from Lebanon into the Mount Dov area, the Israeli military said, according to the AP.
The IDF tweeted regarding the incident that “during routine activity on Mount Dov in northern Israel, IDF soldiers spotted a suspect who crossed the Blue Line from Lebanon into Israel. The suspect was wounded by IDF fire and is now being evacuated to a hospital in Israel. The incident is being looked into.”
The Lebanese army said in a statement that the man is a Syrian shepherd named Mohammed Noureddine Abdul-Azim, and claimed that he was herding goats and sheep near the Israeli border.
UNIFIL, the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon that monitors the border, said it was in touch with the parties, urged restraint and is investigating the incident, the report said.
According to Israeli media reports, there is some concern in Israel that the Lebanese Shi’ite terrorist group Hezbollah may be attempting to probe the border.
In April, Israel accused Hezbollah of “provocative” activity and threatened to file a complaint with the U.N. Security Council following what it said were multiple attempts by the group to breach the border. The IDF classified the event as “severe.”
Also in April, Israel was reported to have struck a vehicle near the Syria-Lebanon border carrying a pair of Hezbollah members.
