Beirut - One person was wounded in southern Lebanon late Sunday after Israeli troops opened fire across the border, Lebanon's state-run news agency reported.

The report could not be immediately verified with security officials.

The news agency did not say what prompted the gunfire. But in Israel, the military said soldiers came under fire in the border town of Ghajar, which is split between the two countries by a U.N.-demarcated line. The soldiers returned fire and identified a hit. There were no Israeli casualties.

Such gunfire has become rare since the 2006 Israel-Hezbollah war and the deployment of the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers along the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Wazzani river

Lebanese officials and residents of the south accused the Israeli army after the 2006 war ended of stealing water from the Wazzani border river.

Mohammad Ghamlush, the engineer heading the Wazzani river pumping systems, said the Israeli army has installed two water pumps to transport water from the Wazzani river through two pipes, which run toward villages in Israel.

Ghamlush said the Israelis were pumping every day between 200 and 300 cubic meters (7,100-10,600 cubic feet) of water from the Wazzani to Ghajar and to Israeli villages.

Wazzani Mayor Ahmed al-Mohammed has accused the Israelis of giving weak excuses in order to justify the "theft" of water from the river. He said they were claiming that the operation was "legal," as the Israeli pumps were on the Israeli side of the border.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora discussed the issue over the phone with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on September 22, according to the national news agency.

In a region where water is scarce, the issue may have dramatic consequences and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has opened an investigation.

Stealing is a well known legacy of Israel

Israel has always been after the water of the Litani river. This River, whose entire basin is in Lebanon , is crucial for rebuilding and effectively integrating the country. Specifically, the waters of the Litani are essential for agricultural and industrial development of southern Lebanon.

In 1982, Israel not only killed over 20,000 people by way of saturation bombing, but they also targeted Lebanon’s economy and agricultural infrastructure. During the occupation of south Lebanon the Israelis went so far as to scoop up Lebanon’s rich agricultural topsoil and cart it back over the border.

Israel has always targeted Lebanese economy

The wholesale destruction of all of Lebanon by Israel during the 2006 war did not make any sense, if their stated objective was Hezbollah. Why bomb roads, bridges, ports, fuel depots in Sunni and Christian areas that have nothing to do with Hezbollah?

Sources: Ya Libnan, AP