IDF says it fired warning shots after Lebanese troops entered Israeli buffer outside pilot zone

The IDF says it fired warning shots after Lebanese soldiers crossed into the Israel-held buffer zone in southern Lebanon today, outside of one of the pilot zones where the Lebanese Armed Forces is being deployed.

The LAF had accused Israel of firing near the pilot zone.

According to the military, troops stationed in the Zawtar al-Sharqiyah area identified LAF soldiers and heavy machinery crossing into the IDF’s buffer zone by around 150 meters (some 500 feet) and “breaching barriers.”

The LAF was supposed to deploy to the adjacent town of Zawtar al-Gharbiya, following the IDF’s withdrawal.

The IDF says that the LAF’s actions were “contrary to the understandings between the parties,” and that the troops in the area “fired warning shots into the air only, which did not endanger the Lebanese army personnel, to distance them from the area.”

The LAF soldiers withdrew from the area, and no injuries were reported.

The IDF says it calls on the Lebanese army to “continue operating in accordance with the understandings and within the agreed areas.”

“Any deviation from these areas without prior coordination could endanger its forces,” the Israeli army adds.