Incident with Israeli jets investigated

The German Defense Ministry said it was investigating an incident in which two Israeli fighter jets allegedly fired shots and dropped flares near a German warship patrolling the Lebanese coast as part of a peacekeeping force.

Israeli officials denied that the jets fired shots at the German ship. The office of Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said in a statement that he spoke by telephone to his German counterpart, Franz Josef Jung, about the reports.

The Israeli military said one of its aircraft had approached a German vessel Tuesday when a helicopter took off from its deck without informing Israeli authorities in advance, but that no shots were fired.