BEIRUT: Israel and Lebanon accused each another of violating their UN-brokered truce after Israel staged a commando raid deep inside Lebanon, in the first serious violence since the deal came into force.

Israel said the raid was to prevent cross-border arms smuggling from Syria and Iran to Hezbollah, while Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora blasted the operation as a “blatant violation” of the truce, which came into force on Monday.

Lebanon warned it might suspend its historic troop deployment to Hezbollah’s stronghold in the south if the United Nations failed to ensure Israel honoured the UN Security Council resolution to end the war with Hezbollah.

“I could ask the cabinet to stop the army’s deployment to the south, as we did not send the troops to fall into an Israeli trap,” Defence Minister Elias Murr said after talks with visiting UN envoys Vijay Nambiar and Terje Roed-Larsen.

“Israel was acting because there was a violation of the resolution,” foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev told AFP in Jerusalem.

“We wouldn’t have acted if Mr Siniora had deployed forces at the border with Syria to prevent incoming arms shipments to Hezbollah,” Regev said, calling it “a frequent violation” of the ceasefire deal.

For his part, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said Israel had violated the terms of the UN resolution that ended the fighting, and called on all parties to respect the embargo on unauthorized arms shipments to Lebanon..—-AFP