A U.N. peacekeeper from Spain was killed Wednesday, along with two Israeli soldiers in an exchange of fire between Hezbollah and Israel that took place in southern Lebanon.

This shots occurred as the Israeli military were shelling the border areas after a Hezbollah attack.

“I can confirm that a Spanish soldier was killed in southern Lebanon," An anonymous source at the Spanish embassy in Beirut told AFP, as reported by Al Arabiya news.

Hezbollah has claimed that one of its brigades in the area had carried out the attack in retaliation for a Jan. 18 Israeli air strike in southern Syria that ended in the deaths of several Hezbollah members as well as an Iranian general.

"Those behind the attack today will pay the full price," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned via television on Wednesday.

The Israeli military has confirmed the deaths of the soldiers, explaining that they had been attacked while driving in unmarked civilian vehicles on a road near a fence that demarcated the hilly frontier area in the region.

Aside from the three casualties, seven other soldiers were wounded.

As reported in Al Arabiya, Andrea Tenenti, the spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, has said that Maj. Gen. Luciano Portolano, the peacekeepers’ commander, was “in close contact with all the parties, urging maximum restraint to prevent an escalation.” He added that the peacekeeper's death was now under investigation.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon has been in service in south Lebanon since 1978. The UNIFIL is a peacekeeping force with 10,000, a number which includes almost 600 Spanish soldiers.

The U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon has, according to a Reuters article, pleaded with all parties to refrain from any further "detribalization" of the situation.

The prime minister of Lebanon has meanwhile said his country was committed to the U.N. resolution that ended the 2006 war.

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