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‘Explosion that hurt troops was a Hezbollah ambush’ | The Times of Israel.

Lebanese militia said to have intentionally detonated two IEDs as an elite IDF force crossed the border, injuring four

A picture published by Shi’ite terror group Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV station shows Lebanese soldiers at the scene of an explosion which left four Israeli soldiers injured, Wednesday, August 7, 2013 (photo credit: Al-Manar News)

The explosion along the Israeli-Lebanon border that left four IDF soldiers wounded Tuesday was in fact a planned Hezbollah ambush, a Lebanese newspaper reported Thursday.

According to Al-Akhbar, which is affiliated with the Shiite terrorist group, Hezbollah prepared two IEDs, each consisting of four small containers filled with iron ball bearings, and detonated them 20 seconds apart as the soldiers crossed into Lebanese soil. The newspaper said that the incident showed the reach of Hezbollah’s intelligence.

“The Israeli force fell into a prepared ambush,” read the Lebanese article. “Apart from the great intelligence secrets that accompanied this confrontation, the enemy now finds himself facing a tough question: How did Hezbollah know about us?”

Israeli officials assessed Wednesday that the explosion would not lead to an escalation along the border, as UN peacekeepers opened an investigation into the incident and asked the IDF for details.

Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV station on Wednesday ran purported footage from the scene of the explosion, but did not claim responsibility for it. Al-Manar accused Israel of misleading peacekeepers with regard to the incident.

The TV station said that the clip, which was said to have been taken near the Lebanese town of Naqoura, provided evidence that IDF troops had violated Lebanese sovereignty by operating over the border.

The soldiers were on a security mission in Lebanon when a land mine exploded near the Labbouneh road, some 400 meters (440 yards) from the Lebanese-Israeli border, the TV station said.

According to Al-Manar, Israel did not inform the UN peacekeeping force in the area of the event despite the fact that it took place only several hundred meters from a UNIFIL post. When peacekeepers first turned to the IDF, according to the Hezbollah-based report, the military responded that it was shooting off flares.

The IDF said the incident happened during routine “overnight activity adjacent to the northern border.” The army said it would “continue to act to maintain security along the northern border,” but did not provide further details.

The IDF’s spokesperson unit said that the soldiers injured by the explosion were taken to Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya. Two of the soldiers were rushed into surgery, while the other two were in the intensive care unit, according to a report by Israel’s Channel 10.

One of the soldiers was released on Wednesday afternoon.

A UN spokesman said that UNIFIL was investigating the incident and added that a team of peacekeepers had traveled to the location where the Lebanese army said the blast occurred. UNIFIL has requested that the IDF provide it with details about the incident, reported Israel Radio.

Lebanon’s foreign minister, Adnan Mansour, said Beirut would file a complaint with the UN Security Council. Reports overnight Wednesday indicated that the government had done so. Mansour said that the incident “reveals again the Israeli enemy’s hidden intentions through its infiltration of Lebanese territory.”

Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said that the IDF had yet to determine the source of the explosion.

“We’re investigating the incident in order to understand whether it was a new or old explosive charge,” Ya’alon said. “Of course we will learn from this and draw conclusions but activities will continue in a levelheaded fashion in order to ensure the security of Israel’s citizens.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted to the incident while on a tour of a new IDF training facility under construction in the Negev.

“There’s something that unites the south and the north and all our other frontiers — the IDF soldiers who defend us and our borders,” he told troops during his visit.

“That’s what happened last night,” he added. “We’ll continue to act responsibly to protect Israel’s borders.”

Times of Israel staff and AP contributed to this report.

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