"In continuance of the ongoing violations of U.N. Resolution 1701, an Israeli enemy patrol consisting of eight soldiers crossed the line of Israeli withdrawal between the (Lebanese) villages of Kfar Shouba and Halta...60 meters into Lebanese territory," a statement said.

The Indian contingent with the U.N. peacekeeping force in the area "made the patrol withdraw," the statement added.

An army officer told AFP the patrol told the Indian peacekeepers the violation was unintentional.

U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 brought an end to the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006.

A beefed-up U.N. peacekeeping force monitors the so-called Blue Line, which defines the point of Israel's withdrawal in 2000 after its decades-long occupation of southern Lebanon.

However, the U.N. doesn't recognize the withdrawal line as a formal border demarcation. -AP