Reuters - JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel denied a German newspaper report on Wednesday that two of its air force planes had fired twice as they flew over a German navy vessel patrolling the Lebanon coast.
However, Germany's Defence Ministry said an incident had occurred, without giving details.
The German daily Der Tagesspiegel quoted a German junior defence minister as telling a parliamentary committee two Israeli F-16 fighters had flown low over the ship, firing twice.
The jets also activated infra-red countermeasures to ward off any rocket attack, the paper quoted him as saying, in an advance release from Thursday's edition.
"There was no such incident," an Israeli military spokeswoman said.
Germany assumed command of a United Nations naval force off Lebanon 10 days ago, and has sent eight ships and 1,000 service personnel to join the international peace operation in the region.
The naval force is charged with preventing weapons smuggling and helping maintain a cease-fire between Israel and the Lebanese Islamic militant group Hezbollah.
"I can confirm that there was an incident," a German defence ministry spokesman said on Wednesday. He declined to give further details because an investigation was underway.
Israel's Channel Two television, quoting military sources, described one undated incident where jets had been scrambled when a helicopter took off from a German aircraft carrier close to Israeli waters without identifying itself.
The planes realised the mistake, did not engage the helicopter and returned home, Channel Two said