Lebanese army anti-aircraft guns fired at Israeli warplanes over southern Lebanon today, a military spokesman said.

The incident was the first of its kind since last summer's conflict and comes days after Israel vowed to step up reconnaissance flights over the country despite UN condemnation.

The Israeli planes had “violated Lebanese sovereignty, posing a challenge to UN Resolution 1701”, the spokesman said, referring to the Security Council resolution that ended Israel’s 34-day war with Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon last August.

During the war, when Israeli warplanes bombed civilian areas of Beirut, Lebanese army anti-aircraft fire was restrained – no Israeli planes were shot down in 12,000 combat missions.

The Lebanese guns did not appear to have hit any Israeli aircraft in today's incident. In Jerusalem, the Israeli military declined to comment on the Lebanese statement.

Israeli warplanes have flown reconnaissance missions over Lebanon for years, despite protests from the Beirut government.

On February 8, General Alon Friedman, head of the Israeli army’s Northern Command said Israel would “continue and even bolster” aerial activities over Lebanon, despite mounting international criticism of the flights.

The same day, Lebanese state media reported that President Fouad Siniora had ordered the country’s army to “confront” any new violation of Lebanese sovereignty.

Israel, which often declines to comment on the operations of its air force, has defended the overflights since the war as necessary to check that Hezbollah is not being re-armed from Syria in violation of the ceasefire.

This morning, Israel's new army chief said that UN peacekeeping forces in Lebanon had not done enough to halt Hezbollah's weapons smuggling. Lieutenant General Gabi Ashkenazi said: "We are following this and we apparently have to deal with this.”

The UN, meanwhile, has warned that Israeli reconnaissance flights undermine the “credibility” of UN peacekeepers and Lebanese armed forces and “compromise overall efforts to stabilise the situation.”

In November, French anti-aircraft batteries of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (Unifil) took “preparatory steps” to open fire on Israeli warplanes violating Lebanese airspace.

Lebanon has far fewer military resources than Israel, but has recently shown increased boldness in confronting Israeli forces.

On February 7, Lebanese troops fired at an Israeli military bulldozer after it allegedly crossed into southern Lebanon. The Israeli army fired back, but later said the bulldozer had remained on the Israeli side of the UN-demarcated border.

After the war, the Lebanese army deployed some 16,000 troops in southern Lebanon, which Hezbollah guerrillas – backed by Iran and Syria – had previously controlled. The UN has sent more than 12,000 peacekeepers to the area to monitor the ceasefire.

Times Recommends

• Please help: maimed children of war want their lives back
• Cabal seizes diamond riches to buy power
• White House gatecrashers got to the president