At least two Israeli soldiers and a Spanish United Nations peacekeeper have been killed as Hezbollah militants clashed with Israeli forces on the Lebanese border.
The violence broke out when Israeli military vehicles were hit by anti-tank missiles near Mt Dov, in the Shebaa Farms area, a tract of land where the borders of Israel, Lebanon and Syria meet. The forces responded by firing shells into southern Lebanon, reported the BBC.
Hezbollah said that it was an act of retaliation against an Israeli air strike that killed six of its members and an Iranian Revolutionary Guards general in the Syrian Golan Heights 10 days ago.
The UN Security Council is to discuss the fighting at an emergency meeting called by France in New York.
A senior UN official on the ground in Lebanon called for "maximum restraint to prevent an escalation."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu conducted an emergency security meeting and warned the attackers that they would have to pay the full price.
