Dozens of Lebanese demonstrators set fire to the Israeli border fence near the country's northernmost town of Metula on Friday, and some of them cut the fence and broke into the Israeli side, prompting IDF tanks stationed in the area to fire several warning shots, chasing protesters back into to Lebanese territory.
Metula residents were instructed to stay in their homes. The rally continued on the Lebanese side of the border.
Lebanese protesters set fire to the border fence with Israel
Hezbollah-affiliated television network Al-Manar reported that one protester was hurt but did not specify what caused their injuries or their condition.
Beirut-based news outlet Al Mayadeen claimed that the protester was hurt by IDF fire.
Lebanon's state news agency later reported a 21-year-old Lebanese man died of wounds sustained in the incident and another youth had been injured by the fire.
Metula Regional Council head David Azulay told Ynet that such protests near the border were not unusual.
"Several dozen arrived with flags, shouted, cursed, not something out of the ordinary. Some reached the international border fence and vandalized it," he said. "Five or six people entered the Israeli territory and lit a fire in the Ayun River Nature Reserve. The army then arrived and dispersed them with live fire."
The council's announcement to the residents stated that the protests on the border fence were under the full control of the army and that no protesters managed to infiltrate onto the community's premises.
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Jordanian security forces fending off pro-Palestinian protesters nearing Israeli border
(Photo: EPA)
The military will now have to investigate the management of the incident and how Lebanese protesters managed to get as far as the fence, cut it and even enter the country. This has long been one of the scenarios Hezbollah threatened in case a war broke out with Israel.
Meanwhile, hundreds participated in a rally near the Allenby border crossing in Jordan in solidarity with the Palestinians and started marching toward the fields near the Israeli border. Jordanian security forces fended them off using riot control measures.
Such Palestinian solidarity rallies were also held in the center of the Jordanian capital of Amman and near the al-Husseini Mosque. These protests come after several consecutive days of protests in front of the Israeli embassy in Jordan, during which the participants called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Amman and the return of the Jordanian ambassador from Tel Aviv.