Hizbullah and Israeli troops engaged in the worst fighting between both sides since 2000. (Reuters)

BEIRUT, November 23, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Israeli troops and the Lebanese resistance group Hizbullah exchanged fire Wednesday, November 23, after an Israeli parachutist landed into Lebanese territories.

Hizbullah and Israeli sources said the clashes occurred when the Israeli parachutist had drifted across the border to land just inside south Lebanon, between the Lebanese border village of Mais El-Jabal and the Israeli border town of Menara, Reuters reported.

Lebanese witnesses said fighters of the resistance group tried to advance to capture the Israeli parachutist but were thwarted by heavy machinegun fire from the Israeli side.

"It was brief. The fighters could not reach him because of the heavy firing. The Israeli quickly went back," one Lebanese villager said.

Israeli military sources claimed that the parachutist, who took off from the Israeli border town of Menara, had drifted astray and landed just inside Lebanese territory.

No injuries were reported in the clashes, which came only two days after the eruption of the worst fighting between the two sides since Israel pulled out from South Lebanon in 2000.

The Monday clashes left four Hizbullah fighters dead and 11 Israeli soldiers wounded in the disputed Shebaa Farms.

Israeli Leaflets

Israeli planes dropped thousands of leaflets over Beirut accusing Hizbullah of "harming Lebanon." (Reuters)

The clashes came hours after Israeli planes dropped thousands of leaflets over the Lebanese capital Beirut accusing Hizbullah of "harming Lebanon ".

"Hizbullah brings a strong prejudice to Lebanon. It is an instrument in the hands of its Syrian and Iranian masters," the leaflets read.

The Lebanese military said the leaflets were dropped by Israeli planes on Beirut and Mount Lebanon.

"This act shows the aggressive intentions on the part of the Israeli enemy which has recently intensified its violations by air, sea and land," the military said.

Hizbullah spokesman Mohammed Afif told the Associated Press that the leaflets were "an expression of Israeli failures in facing Hizbullah."

Similar sentiments were echoed by ordinary Lebanese.

"The Israelis want to sow strife among the Lebanese and terrorize them," said Reda Nemeh, a 41-year-old Lebanese taxi driver who saw the leaflets.

"This should make us protect the resistance," he added.

Hizbullah fought Israel's 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon before Tel Aviv was forced to withdraw its troops in May 2000.

The resistance group conducts sporadic operations against Israeli troops in the disputed Shebaa Farms area.

The water-rich Shebaa Farms lie at the convergence of Israeli, Lebanese and Syrian territory.

Lebanon has been pressing for the return of the area, captured by Israel in 1967, but Tel Aviv claims that the water-rich zone was captured from Syria and its fate should be determined via talks with Damascus.