Israel blamed Syria and Lebanon on Monday for clashes on its borders in a complaint filed to the United Nations, the Israeli prime minister’s spokesman said.
“Israel has sent a complaint to the UN against Syria and Lebanon, as parties responsible for breaching our borders,” Alex Selsky told RIA Novosti.
At least 13 people were reported to have been killed and dozens injured on Sunday as Israeli troops fired at groups of pro-Palestinian protesters trying to cross the border between Syria and the disputed Golan Heights, a strategically important plateau occupied by Israel since the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
The violence came as Palestinians marked the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba (Catastrophe), their term for Israel’s founding in 1948. The Golan Heights have remained remarkably quiet since a truce in 1974 that followed a war between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria.
The Lebanese army said that 10 people were killed and more than 100 wounded when Israeli troops opened fire on demonstrators trying to cross into Israel from the Lebanese village of Maroun a-Ras.
The Israeli Haaretz newspaper quoted local military sources as saying that both Israeli and Lebanese forces opened fire on protesters.
The Lebanese delegation to the UN has also filed a complaint against Israel over the clashes, the paper said.
Although no new clashes have taken place on Monday, the Israeli army remains on high alert.
TEL AVIV, May 16 (RIA Novosti)