UN aid agency suspends operations in Gaza after Israel kills its driver

"UNRWA decided to suspend all its operations in the Gaza Strip because of the increasing hostile actions against its premises and personnel," Adnan Abu Hasna, a Gaza-based spokesman for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).

 

He did not say how long the suspension would last.

 

Hasna earlier said the driver was killed during a lull declared by Israel to allow humanitarian aid to enter the territory.Â

 

He said the U.N. coordinated the delivery with Israel and the vehicle and was marked with a U.N. flag and insignia when it was fired upon.

 

The Israeli army said it was investigating Thursday’s incident in northern Gaza.  

 

The shooting is likely to raise already heightened tensions with the United Nations.

 

 Earlier this week, an Israeli attack on a U.N. school killed more than 30 people. At the time, Israel said it opened fire after militants hiding in the crowd fired mortar shells at Israeli troops.

 

LEBANON ROCKET FIRE

Lebanon on Thursday launched a probe into a rocket attack on northern Israel amid indications that Hezbollah was not involved and heightened fears of a second front opening up in the Gaza war.

 

"Lebanon denounces and condemns the firing of rockets and the retaliatory action and believes that such action is in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701," Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said in a statement.

 

"We have asked the competent authorities in cooperation with the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) to investigate." He added that Lebanon was committed to the UN-brokered truce that ended the devastating 2006 war between the militant group Hezbollah and Israel.

 

Resolution 1701 helped bring an end to that conflict.

 

Siniora, who was to chair a cabinet meeting later in the day to discuss developments, said the rocket fire was the work of parties seeking to destabilize Lebanon.

 

Israel hit back after the rockets fired from Lebanon with artillery shells in what an Israeli army spokesman described as "a pinpoint response at the source of fire", a limited military reaction that appeared to signal a desire to avoid escalation.

 

At least three rockets fired from Lebanon slightly wounded two people in the area around the northern town of Nahariya, medics said.

 

The rockets were the first fired from Lebanon since 2007, and occurred on the 13th day of the Jewish state's offensive in the Gaza Strip to the south.

 

Palestinians fired rockets from Lebanon into northern Israel in June 2007, causing no casualties. During a 2006 war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon in 2006, the Israel had came under frequent rocket attacks that caused casualties.

 

 

HEZBOLLAH, HAMAS DENY INVOLVEMENT

Hezbollah has made it clear to the Lebanese government, in which it has a representative, that it was not involved in Thursday's rocket attack into northern Israel, Information Minister Tarek Mitri told AFP.

 

"Hezbollah has assured us that they remain committed to stability and Resolution 1701 and that is a euphemism for saying they are not involved," Mitri said, referring the UN Security Council resolution that brought an end to the devastating 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah.

 

Although it was unclear who fired the rockets and whether it signaled the start of a wider conflict, the exchange was certain to raise tensions between Hezbollah and Israel after days with the two sides trading threats but holding their fire.

 

The rockets fell a day after the chief of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, a Shi’ite militia with which Israel fought a 34-day war in 2006, warned that "all possibilities" were open against Israel amid its deadly offensive in Gaza.

 

Israeli analysts have said the Iranian-backed Hezbollah group may try to get involved in Israel's battle against Hamas in Gaza. Hamas is also backed by Iran.