A picture taken from the town of Metula, in occupied Palestine near the border with Lebanon, shows people and reporters watching after a pro-Palestinian rally in the Khiam area of Lebanon on Friday. One Lebanese demonstrator was killed and another wounded by Israeli fire, state media reported. (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)
A Lebanese demonstrator struck by Israeli shell fire Friday on the border between Lebanon and occupied Palestine died of his wounds, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.
The 21-year-old was one of two men who suffered wounds from the shelling during a protest on the frontier against Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the NNA said.
The two had been wounded “by two Israeli shells that fell near them after a number of youths tried to enter the town of Metula” in northern Israel, the NNA said.
In the aftermath, “the Lebanese Army and security forces were deployed ... to stop the youths from advancing” again, the state media outlet said.
The wounded were taken to hospital in Marjayoun in southern Lebanon. The condition of the second man was not immediately known.
Another person was wounded later amid renewed protests at the border, a source from the Lebanese Army told L’Orient Today.
The protesters, some carrying Palestinian flags and that of the group Hezbollah — arch-enemy of Israel — had gathered in the Khiam plain, opposite Metula, a few dozen meters from the border, an AFP photographer said.
They later set fire to the area, with the flames spreading “all the way to the border,” he added.
The Israeli army confirmed on Twitter its tanks had “fired warning shots at a number of rioters ... who had crossed into Israeli territory.”
They “sabotaged the fence and set fire to it ... before returning to Lebanese territory,” it added, without mentioning any wounded.
On Thursday, three rockets were fired from southern Lebanon near the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidieh at Israel, a Lebanese military source said.
Israel’s army said the rockets landed in the sea.
A source close to Hezbollah said the Lebanese Shiite group had no link to the incident.
The 21-year-old was one of two men who suffered wounds from the shelling during a protest on the frontier against Israel’s bombardment of the Gaza Strip, the NNA said.The two had...