Lebanon citizen returned after 'abduction' on Israel border

A Lebanese woman was briefly held by Israeli forces, after being "abducted" across the border.

Lebanon's army late on Saturday said the citizen in the Shebaa area was taken into occupied Palestinian territory. 

"On April 28 at 8.30pm an Israeli enemy patrol carried out the abduction of Nohad Dali from the town of Shebaa and took her into occupied Palestinian territory," said a Lebanese army command statement via Lebanon's state news agency NNA.

Israel's military said two shepherds had crossed the UN-demarcated border with Lebanon and that one of them was taken into custody by its troops.

"She was returned today," a military spokesman said on Sunday morning, however there was no immediate confirmation from Beirut of Dali's repatriation.

A spokesman from United Nations peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, UNIFIL, said the woman had been handed back to Lebanon's army, according to The Daily Star.

The Shebaa region includes a disputed area which Lebanon claims as part of its territory but is occupied by Israel as part of Golan Heights, which it captured from Syria in 1967.

Located on the border between Lebanon and the Syrian Golan Heights, Shebaa Farms measure about 11 kilometres [7 miles] in length and 2.5 kilometres [1.5 miles] in width. 

Lebanon has repeatedly asserted that they are located within its sovereign territory, but the UN has failed to press Israel into ending its occupation.

The last conflict on the Lebanon-Israel border was a short war in 2006 between Israel and Leabnon's Iran-backed Hizballah.

Tensions have heightened between the two over the Shia group's role in the Syrian war, where it is fighting in support of President Bashar al-Assad's forces.