Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed Wednesday night that its troops shot at suspicious shadows moving near the fence on the Israel-Lebanon border for the first time since its ceasefire singed with Lebanese Hezbollah on Aug. 14 last year.

The IDF spokesman told Xinhua that the incident occurred on last Thursday but has only been released for publication on Wednesday evening.

According to the spokesman, an Israeli unit took the action when it was patrolling the border fence in the evening hours that day and identified suspicious movement on the Lebanese side of the fence.

While it was unclear if the figures spotted near the border were people or simply wild pigs, troops fired into Lebanon from the Israeli side of the border, said the spokesman.
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It was the first time the IDF took the initiative since the August ceasefire.

Local newspaper Jerusalem Post has judged the incident as a mark of the change in IDF policy regarding restraint of troops patrolling the sensitive border.

Israel from now on would not tolerate any activity aimed at disrupting Israeli sovereignty over its territory, a military source in IDF's Northern Command was quoted as saying.

But the IDF has denied the comment.

In January, Lebanese soldiers shot upon IDF troops while they were working on dismantling explosive devices near Avivim. The troops were ordered not to shoot back and the incident was peacefully ended with UNIFIL intervention.

Israeli Ynet news website reported that the army has recently completed a large-scale defense project along the northern border aimed towards rehabilitating and reinforcing the security fence and fortifying the north's military outposts.

The estimated cost of the post-war project stands at almost US$25 million.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2007)