UN calls on Israel to stop flying over Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon - The United Nations on Thursday renewed a call on Israel to stop flying its military aircraft over Lebanon, saying the actions are disturbing a "calm" that has prevailed in the area in recent weeks.

The call, by the Office of the Personal Representative of the Secretary-General for Southern Lebanon, came amid a war of words between Israel and Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon.

Israel has focused blame on Syria for harboring leaders of Palestinian militant groups and has threatened action after twin suicide bombings in Be?er Sheba, in the south, killed 16 bus passengers last week.

The UN statement, issued in Beirut, expressed concern "at the large number of Israeli violations" in the past 36 hours, noting five Israeli violations occurred Wednesday and eight Thursday, adding there was no Lebanese retaliatory anti-aircraft fire.

"These breaches of Lebanese airspace disturb a calm that has prevailed over recent weeks," the statement said. "The United Nations renews its call on Israel to cease these violations and reminds all parties that violation cannot justify another."

Israel regularly flies reconnaissance missions over Lebanon and its aircraft have occasionally bombed suspected guerrilla targets in the country's south.

The flights are a constant source of tension between the neighboring countries since Israel's troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.

Hezbollah, the Lebanese guerrilla group, has in the past fired on Israeli planes and some shrapnel hit northern Israeli border communities, drawing Israeli retaliation and occasionally igniting clashes.