Lebanon mourns Hezbollah protester killed by Israeli fire

Hundreds of people brandishing Palestinian flags and the yellow colours ofHezbollahgathered in southLebanonon Saturday for the funeral of a LebaneseprotesterkilledbyIsraelifirea day earlier.

Mohamad Kassem Tahan, a member of the Iran-backedHezbollahmovement, had been protesting at the Lebanese border against the Jewish state's latest assault on the Gaza Strip when he was hit byIsraelishellfire.

That came after a number of young demonstrators had tried to cross into the northernIsraeliborder town of Metulla, according to Lebanese state media.

On Saturday, Tahan's hometown of Adloun held a funeral that coincided with the anniversary of the Nakba, the "catastrophe" of the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians during Israel's creation in 1948.

Hezbollahfighters in military fatigues carried the 21-year-old's coffin, wrapped in the movement's yellow flag, through a crowd of mourners to the sound of pro-Palestinian chants and sporadic gunfire.

"Death to Israel!" they chanted.

"To Jerusalem we will go, and the martyrs will be in the millions!"

Hezbollah, a key enemy of Israel, had declared Tahan a "martyr" on Friday and Lebanese president Michel Aoun condemned a "crime committed byIsraeliforces".

Speaking to AFP at the funeral, Tahan's friend Karim called him "a very loving young man."

"He was loved in Adloun. He used to help everyone, even if he was busy," the 17-year-old said.

Beside him, a group of Tahan's friends cried on a sofa, while outside, copies of his portrait lined roads leading to the funeral venue.

The funeral came as dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered along the southern frontier to commemorate the Nakba and denounceIsraeliviolence in Gaza and Jerusalem.

Brandishing flags and wearing chequered Palestinian scarves, they gathered at several locations including the Lebanese border towns of Maroun Al-Ras and Adaisseh, according to AFP correspondents in the area.

They were surrounded by Lebanese soldiers who had erected checkpoints and blocked roads leading up to the frontier to avoid any escalation, according to state media.

The ANI state news agency said Palestinian protesters had clashed with security forces blocking their way to the border in the Marjayoun area.

Protesters in the Kfar Kela district near the border climbed a separation wall and hung aHezbollahand a Palestinian flag from a watchtower, an AFP correspondent said. He also saw them throwing rocks at the wall, and heard gunfire from theIsraeliside.

Ahead of Saturday's protest, anIsraeliarmy spokesperson had warnedLebanonagainst allowing "rioters" to approach the frontier.

His statement came as theIsraeliarmy claimed it foiled an overnight attempt by a group of Lebanese infiltrators to cross the border near the town of Metulla.

The army said the infiltrators had planted objects believed to be explosives before fleeing back intoLebanonunderIsraelifire.

Earlier on Thursday, three rockets were fired from southernLebanonnear the Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidiyeh toward Israel, a Lebanese military source said.

Israel's army said the rockets had landed in the sea.

A source close toHezbollahsaid the Shiite group had no link to that incident.

Israel occupied much of southernLebanonfrom its 1982 invasion until its withdrawal in 2000, seen as a victory forHezbollah's "resistance".