The Israeli forces fired tear gas and stun grenades at a group of journalists who were touring the southern borders yesterday, accompanied by the representative in the Lebanese Parliament, Qassem Hashem.
According to the Lebanese “Al-Jadeed” channel, the journalists and MP Qassem Hashem were subjected to tear gas canisters, during a tour of the Bastra border farm of the Shebaa Farms.
According to the channel, “the Israeli forces asked the journalists to leave the area, despite their presence behind the (blue) withdrawal line in the occupied Shebaa Farms,” pointing out that the Israeli soldiers assumed a fighting position, and the international forces operating in southern Lebanon arrived in the area.
The incident caused suffocation injuries as a result of the firing of tear gas at the journalists, during their tour in the Shebaa Farms.
“We have the right to reach any spot in the Kfar Shuba Hills and Shebaa Farms, and what we are exposed to is normal, as this is the aggressive nature of the Israeli forces,” MP Qassem Hashem said, in a statement on the southern border at the outskirts of the Shebaa Farms. The journalists and MP Qassem Hashem withdrew to the back, and a number of Lebanese army personnel attended.
For her part, Candice Ardel, deputy director of the media office of the international forces operating in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL), announced yesterday that “dozens of individuals crossed yesterday to the south of the Blue Line in the Bastra area, and in response to that, the Israeli army fired tear gas.”
The Lebanese Al-Jadeed TV channel quoted Ardel as saying that “UNIFIL peacekeepers, the Lebanese army and the Israeli army are all at the site, and the situation is continuing, but calm.” “We encourage everyone to continue to exercise the same level of restraint,” Ardell said.
Meanwhile, the command of the international forces operating in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) informed the Lebanese side that the Israeli military team would not attend the tripartite meeting scheduled for tomorrow in Naqoura.
The meeting is scheduled to discuss the issue of addressing the remaining Lebanese border reservations, in addition to what is happening outside the town of Mari, up to the Kfar Shuba hills and the Shebaa farms.
2023-07-15 22:05:03
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