Israel-Lebanon border tensions sparked by Hezbollah banner

 UN peacekeepers in Lebanon made a quiet request late on Friday after Hezbollah supporters and Israeli border guards got into a fight as Iran and other Arab nations observed Jerusalem Day. The annual commemoration, which supports the Palestinian cause, was held earlier in the day in the refugee camp of Burj al-Barajneh in Lebanon, a bastion of Hezbollah.

Later, Hezbollah supporters walked up to the Israeli border fence in south Lebanon and hoisted a flag of the Shiite movement there.

Kandice Ardiel, the deputy spokesman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, reported that "UNIFIL peacekeepers observed a crowd of 50 to 60 individuals throwing stones and placing a Hezbollah flag in the technical fence."

Lebanese troops quickly arrived and collaborated with UNIFIL to defuse the situation, she added, adding that Israeli forces "responded with stun and smoke grenades".

We highly ask everyone to refrain from any actions that can be interpreted as provocative and potentially lead the situation to worsen, especially at this delicate time, Ardiel stated.

In recent weeks, there have been violent assaults and skirmishes throughout Israel, in the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as across international borders between Israeli forces and militants in the Gaza Strip, Lebanon, and Syria.

One guy was hurt when a smoke grenade struck him in the head during a protest at the border, according to the official news agency of Lebanon, ANI.

Hassan Nasrallah, the head of Hezbollah, had earlier pledged in a televised broadcast to respond to "any action targeting anyone in Lebanon in an appropriate scale and manner."