South Lebanon Sunday witnessed its deadliest day since the month-long Israel-Hizballah 2006
war when 10 Palestinian demonstrators were reported shot dead
and another 112 wounded as Israeli troops opened fire on protests
along the border fence. The casualties came as a massive crowd of Palestinians gathered at
Maroun er Ras, a small hilltop village overlooking the border with
Israel, to commemorate the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba, or
Catastrophe, when the state of Israel was established.
By Sunday night, the militant Lebanese Shi’ite group Hizballah was on alert and
United Nations peacekeepers, known as UNIFIL, and Lebanese troops were
planning heightened security measures along the border to prevent the
retaliatory firing of rockets into Israel and a continuing escalation of cross border violence.
