Jerusalem – In a series of skirmishes across the Israeli- Lebanese border, militants fired rockets deep inside northern Israel before dawn on Sunday, and Israel delivered a sharp response, pounding militant bases in Lebanon and trading artillery fire across the frontier.
Two militants were killed in Lebanon, and combatants were injured on both sides.
While shooting erupts along the border with some regularity, Sunday’s clashes appeared to be one of the more intense encounters since Israel withdrew troops from Lebanon six years ago.
“Let there be no doubt that we will deal a very painful blow to whomever tries to disrupt life along our northern border,” Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, told Israeli television.
In Lebanon, Prime Minister Fouad Siniora criticized what he called the “enemy’s aggression.”
By Sunday evening the United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon said it had brokered a cease-fire.
Meanwhile, Sunday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian faction leaders agreed to 10 days of intensive talks aimed at resolving critical differences and avoiding a national referendum on recognizing Israel’s right to exist.
The Palestinian government has been internationally isolated and suffering a crippling economic boycott since Hamas won Jan. 25 parliamentary elections. The United States and European Union demand that the Islamic militant group renounce violence and recognize Israel if it wants aid restored. Hamas has refused.
Abbas urged Hamas to accept a proposal drafted by militants in Israeli prisons that implicitly accepts Israel’s right to exist. If no agreement is reached after 10 days of talks, he said, he will call a referendum on the proposal.