The Lebanese Foreign Ministry has informed the United Nations that Khirbet Silim blast on July 14 in southern Lebanon was caused by Israel's leftover ammunition, pan- Arab daily Al-Hayat reported Monday. 'The July 14 explosion was caused by the ammunition depot which was the leftover of the Israeli army,' the ministry was quoted as saying in its letter to the UN. An ammunition depot located in an abandoned building on the outskirts of Khirbet Silim, about 20 km from the Lebanon-Israel border, exploded on July 14 with no casualties. The UN said on July 16 that it considered the explosion a 'serious violation of UN resolution 1701'. However, Hezbollah's second in command Sheikh Naim Qassem broke silence last week, saying that the explosion was set off by old shells collected during and after Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, not a secret arms cache. Resolution 1701 which ended a 34-day devastating war between Hezbollah and Israel in July 2006 stated that all Lebanese parties except the Lebanese army should abandon their weapons, mainly in the area of operations of the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon UNIFIL). The joint investigations by UNIFIL and Lebanese army into the blast triggered tensions between UNIFIL and the Shiite-dominant residents of Khirbet Silim on July 18, when UNIFIL soldiers tried to search a house suspected of containing arms in the town, leaving 14 peacekeepers injured. 