U.N. urges restraint along Israel-Lebanon border

A ball of fire lights the sky after Israeli warplanes struck near the Israel-Lebanon border.

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNN) -- Israel launched heavy air attacks against suspected Hezbollah hideouts in southern Lebanon on Sunday after Israeli military positions near the Golan Heights came under artillery and mortar fire.

A U.N. envoy urged restraint on both sides after a second day of attacks on Israeli army outposts from southern Lebanon and called on Lebanese authorities to take steps to control the situation.

Suspected Hezbollah guerrillas fired mortar shells and anti-tank missiles at Israeli positions in the Shebaa Farms area, located at the foot of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, an Israeli military spokesman said.

The attacks on Israel from southern Lebanon are thought to be partly in response to Israeli incursions in the West Bank. Hezbollah has launched a series of attacks on the Shebaa Farms area over the past several days, raising fears that the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict could spread.

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"We urge the Lebanese authorities to prove with facts immediately what does it mean to actually contain the situation," Staffan de Mistura, U.N. special envoy for south Lebanon, told reporters Sunday.

"We sincerely hope and want to believe that this is not at all a point of no return," he said. "That's why we are appealing to both the Lebanese authorities and to the Israeli authorities to exercise once again restraint."

The Israeli military said attacks resumed Sunday night on its border positions. A military spokesman said seven soldiers were wounded by anti-tank missiles fired at a position near the western end of the border. And Israeli troops responded to an attack by small-arms fire on a kibbutz near the border with artillery fire and airstrikes, the IDF said.

Israel says it holds Lebanon and Syria, which has troops stationed in Lebanon and supports Hezbollah, for the escalation of the border skirmishes.

Earlier in the day, Lebanese authorities arrested three Palestinians for a shooting attack Saturday aimed near Ghajar village, near the southern Golan Heights. Another Palestinian involved in the attack remained at large.

Mistura said U.N. officials were concerned because there were more than 33 air attacks on Lebanese territory in retaliation for Saturday's attack.

"That should give us a feeling of the special danger of the moment," he said.

Mistura said there have been violations of the so-called Blue Line during the past 10 days.

The United Nations drew the line two years ago to mark the Israeli-Lebanese border after Israel's withdrawal from the "security zone" it occupied in southern Lebanon for 22 years.