Lebanon's army says its troops are deploying to a "pilot zone" in the south of the country following the withdrawal of Israeli forces under a US-brokered agreement reached last month.
Engineering units entered the village of Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh in Nabatieh district on Tuesday morning, the army command announced.
Later, it said Israeli forces had opened fire in the vicinity of the troops. Israel's military said warning shots had been fired after the troops crossed into the Israeli-declared "security zone".
The pilot zone plan should see Israeli troops pulling out of a small part of the territory occupied during their conflict with Hezbollah and the disarmament of the Iran-backed Lebanese group.
Tuesday's deployment began ahead of a meeting in Washington between US President Donald Trump and his Lebanese counterpart, Joseph Aoun.
Aoun was expected to urge Trump to put pressure on Israel to withdraw from the rest of southern Lebanon and support the Lebanese army in taking full control of areas where Hezbollah holds sway.
"I told him [Trump] I need two things from you: political support and supporting the LAF [Lebanese Armed Forces]," Aoun told reporters in the Oval Office.
FULL ARTICLE AT: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy8mynlmn55o
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