UN Security Council condemns killing of Spanish peacekeeper in southern Lebanon

UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council is condemning "in the strongest terms" last week's killing of a Spanish peacekeeper in southern Lebanon.

Wednesday's statement comes a week after Cpl. Francisco Javier Soria Toledo was killed during the Israeli military's exchange of fire with the Lebanese militant Hezbollah group in a disputed border area.

Spain's U.N. ambassador quickly blamed Israel, and a U.N. diplomat has said Israel apologized through several sources, including an apology from its ambassador in Madrid to Spain's foreign minister.

The U.N. is investigating the incident, and the council statement says members look forward to its "immediate completion."

The violence along Lebanon's border, which also killed two Israeli soldiers, was the deadliest escalation on the disputed frontier since the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel.