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A Lebanese army officer points out locations on a map during a joint exercise with UN peacekeepers Tuesday. (Reuters)
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Last update - 01:49 04/11/2007
Report: Lebanese army fired on IAF fighter jets
By Jack Khoury and Yuval Azoulay, Haaretz Correspondents, and The Associated Press
tags: IAF, Lebanon, Hezbollah 

Lebanese army units fired in the direction of Israel Air Force planes that entered the country's airspace on Thursday, the London-based Arabic-language daily newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported Friday.

The IAF sorties prompted the Lebanese military to raise its alert level. The army also conducted ground patrols along the Lebanese border with Israel and appealed to UNIFIL to demand the flights cease.

The Lebanese army alleges that six IAF combat jets were seen in the skies above southern Lebanon on Thursday between 9:30 and 11:00 in the morning.
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The Israel Defense Forces declined to respond, saying it does not provide details of IAF operations.

This is the second time in a week that Lebanon has said its troops fired on IAF planes that had violated its airspace.

On Thursday, the leader of the militant Hezbollah group said that his organization has grown stronger as Israel has weakened.

Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah's comments came a day after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a new report that said Israel claims Hezbollah has rearmed with new long-range rockets capable of hitting Tel Aviv.

"The resistance today is stronger than before and Israel is weaker," Nasrallah said during the opening of an agricultural fair in Beirut's southern suburb of Rweis organized by Hezbollah's construction arm, Jihad al-Bina. Nasrallah was not present but spoke to hundreds of supporters using a giant screen.

"We don't want war with anyone, but at the same time, we will not allow anyone to attack our villages, people and country," Nasrallah said. Hezbollah's Al-Manar television aired excerpts of his speech during the station's evening broadcast.

His comments came ahead of a military exercise Israel has scheduled this week in the north near the Lebanese border. The exercise is expected to constitute the largest Israeli military maneuver since the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah last year.

On Wednesday, a report compiled by the UN secretary-general stated that Israel claims Hezbollah has tripled its shore-to-sea C-802 missiles and has established an air defense unit armed with ground-to-air missiles.

"Israel has stated that the nature and number of weapons in Hezbollah's control constitutes a strategic threat to its security and the safety of its citizens," Ban said.

Ban said he believed the reports of Hezbollah's rearming are a cause of great concern for the stability of Lebanon.

Nasrallah did not comment on Ban's report or provide details on how Hezbollah has strengthened. Last year after the war ended, he said his group had been rearming since Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000 and possessed more than 33,000 rockets.

Nasrallah warned that no one will be allowed "to stain Lebanon's lands, which will not be a land for Israeli occupation or American military bases." He was referring to a report by Lebanon's daily As-Safir newspaper last month that said Washington was proposing a treaty with Lebanon that would make it a strategic partner and lead to the creation of American bases in the country.

The Western-backed Lebanese government and the U.S. embassy denied the report.

Related articles:
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  • U.S. officials demand IAF cease overflights in Lebanese airspace
  • Provocation in Lebanon's skies
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      1.   The neighborhood bully (Bob Dylan)(1) 09:15  |  Gil 02/11/07
      2.   TO NASRALALALA: WE HAVN`T FORGOTTEN 1983 09:15  |  AMERICAN MARINE 02/11/07
      3.   The neighborhood bully (Bob Dylan)(2) 09:18  |  Gil 02/11/07
      4.   The neighborhood bully (Bob Dylan)(3) 09:20  |  Gil 02/11/07
      5.   US bases with roofs 09:24  |  Clickfool 02/11/07
      6.   NAZRALLAH MIGHT BE RIGHT:ISRAEL NEEDS ELECTIONS NOW !! 09:27  |  Lou Knee 02/11/07
      7.   He`s right ,Israel is more and more despodent and bewildered 09:28  |  Absolute Sweden 02/11/07
      8.   blah blah blah Nasrallah 09:33  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 02/11/07
      9.   DO YOU REMEMBER ENTEBBE 1976, NASRALLAH? 09:42  |  indrajaya 02/11/07
      10.   So why is he in hiding?The leader of the Army of Allah 09:55  |  PETER S .M. 02/11/07
      11.   For Absolute Sweden # 7 10:04  |  Clickfool 02/11/07
      12.   His Bombast Is Stronger, That`s All 10:14  |  dyinglikeflies 02/11/07
      13.   iran is the culprit 10:37  |  goldman 02/11/07
      14.   Margie 10:46  |  Shekinah 02/11/07
      15.   Tsk tsk, Margie 10:46  |  Maral 02/11/07
      16.   #8Margie in Tel Aviv. It was no accident, was it? 10:55  |  Maureen Ann 02/11/07
      17.   HE IS RIGHT BECAUSE AGGRESSION AND BARBARISM NEVER PREVAIL 11:09  |  TrippleJump 02/11/07
      18.   ISRAEL IS WEAK BECAUSE IF IT BUILD ON THEFT AND BLOOD 11:10  |  Eric 02/11/07
      19.   LIKE SADAM IN HIS HIDING HOLE WITH DELUSIONAL VISIONS OF GRANDEUR 11:14  |  BEN 02/11/07
      20.   To American Marine 11:20  |  Maral 02/11/07
      21.   American Marine 11:24  |  Maral 02/11/07
      22.   For Clickfool No.11 11:34  |  dovale 02/11/07
      23.   Nasrallah 11:35  |  ZB 02/11/07
      24.   Maral 11:46  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 02/11/07
      25.   Policy-makers 12:16  |  Teacher 02/11/07
      26.   # 17 trippledump 12:27  |  Lynn 02/11/07
      27.   # 15 Maral 12:30  |  Lynn 02/11/07
      28.   # 10 Peter SM; He is hiding because he knows that 12:49  |  Haham me Bat Yam 02/11/07
      29.   Margie, blah blah blah 12:59  |  Maral 02/11/07
      30.   Lynn 13:02  |  Maral 02/11/07
      31.   He`d trade places in a heart beat 13:05  |  robert 02/11/07
      32.   HAHAHAHAHA - Nasrallah is joke.... 13:08  |  bv 02/11/07
      33.   #18 eric fails history 0/100 see realtime show 13:30  |  victor hardman 02/11/07
      34.   Maral, when Lebanon and the forces that operate there 13:34  |  Avihu 02/11/07
      35.   Maral 13:40  |  Lynn 02/11/07
      36.   A question 13:43  |  Outsider 02/11/07
      37.   #31 Robert 13:44  |  Chris Linthwaite 02/11/07
      38.   #29 Maral 13:47  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 02/11/07
      39.   When the Lebs won`t stop smuggling 13:50  |  David Teich 02/11/07
      40.   to no2 ..american marine.. 13:52  |  sinalco 02/11/07
      41.   no9 indrajaya... 13:58  |  sinalco 02/11/07
      42.   Too bad they didn`t shoot it down 14:01  |  POP 02/11/07
      43.   no19 ben..r u for real?do u follow politics?do u know anything?! 14:06  |  sinalco 02/11/07
      44.   The world understand mor and mor 14:18  |  Dav 02/11/07
      45.   It`s time for the "neighborhood bully" to go postal and ........ 14:20  |  bernard ross 02/11/07
      46.   Better luck next time 14:21  |  Clickfool 02/11/07
      47.   This was the proper response to the IAF terrorists 14:21  |  Stephen Murray 02/11/07
      48.   #19 ben 14:23  |  Dav 02/11/07
      49.   To POP 14:34  |  Dav 02/11/07
      50.   #39 14:37  |  sam 02/11/07
      51.   #clickfool#A LIITLE KNOWLEDGE IS A DANGEROUS THING 14:38  |  C.L.Ueless 02/11/07
      52.   Israeli aggression requires a firm response 14:43  |  Natallie Durson 02/11/07
      53.   NASRALLAH IS AS GOOD AS DEAD! 14:44  |  WARRIOR 02/11/07
      54.   American Marine..have you forgotten the USS Liberty? 14:45  |  Tim 02/11/07
      55.   Clickfools lack of facts 14:45  |  Petra 02/11/07
      56.   X-Rays Reveal 14:45  |  Mark Lincoln 02/11/07
      57.   Marige 14:45  |  Maral 02/11/07
      58.   #8 Margie RIGHT ON LADY, BRAVO!!!!! 14:46  |  Petra 02/11/07
      59.   Avihu 14:49  |  Maral 02/11/07
      60.   Ban is Worried Now after more than a year 14:49  |  Tzfonit 02/11/07
      61.   #16 NOT ISREAL WAR, GEO.W. BUSH` WAR 14:50  |  Petra 02/11/07
      62.   # 59 warrior... 14:56  |  sam 02/11/07
      63.   Unnecessary and pointless provocation 14:56  |  Johnboy 02/11/07
      64.   Fighting the windmills in Lebanon 14:58  |  Tosefta 02/11/07
      65.   Pop Israelis NEIGHBOURS are not soveriegn in thie own state . 14:58  |  Gabriel 02/11/07
      66.   to nr 2 The world has nor forgotten Hiroshima and Nagasaki 14:58  |  Mimi 02/11/07
      67.   :) Petra 15:01  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 02/11/07
      68.   to eric ben mouloud from paris 15:04  |  baba lalou 02/11/07
      69.   You smell that? 15:08  |  Colonel Bill Kilgore 02/11/07
      70.   #39 Lovely use of words there, David. 15:10  |  Johnboy 02/11/07
      71.   Mark Lincoln & spinal surgery 15:11  |  Jasmine Murphy 02/11/07
      72.   Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah`s comments are a joke 15:13  |  Kipperraes 02/11/07
      73.   Gil enough with your responses 15:14  |  Kipperraes 02/11/07
      74.   American Marine is obviously Israeli 15:26  |  james 02/11/07
      75.   Peace can be acheived 15:26  |  Jean Kelly 02/11/07
      76.   TrippleJump, good never forget - keeping you from attacking again 15:32  |  Johnny 02/11/07
      77.   This means WAR 15:33  |  Yigal 02/11/07
      78.   Nasrallah the sweaty islamist hiding in a cellar 15:37  |  Johnny 02/11/07
      79.   Israel missed its chance ! 15:45  |  Tarek 02/11/07
      80.