A UNIFIL patrol in southern Lebanon (archive)
Hizb allah
Lebanese leaders informed the UN force that Israel must withdraw its forces from the Lebanese part of the town of Ghajar, which was occupied by Israeli forces in 2006.
Posted on: July 10, 2023: 11:43 PM GST Last updated: July 11, 2023: 12:13 AM GST
The commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force deployed on the tense Lebanon-Israel border on Monday conveyed an Israeli request to remove a tent set up by Hezbollah in a disputed area, according to a statement by Lebanon’s foreign minister.
The commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force (UNIFIL), Major General Aroldo Lazzaro, met Monday in Beirut with interim Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.
Lebanese Foreign Minister Abdullah Bouhabib said that the Lebanese commanders informed the commander of the UN force that Israel must withdraw its forces from the Lebanese part of the town of Ghajar, which was occupied by Israeli forces in 2006.
Major General Aroldo Lazzaro during his meeting with the head of the interim government, Najib Mikati
Israel filed a complaint with the United Nations in June, confirming that Hezbollah had set up two tents dozens of meters inside Israeli territory.
Israel occupied the area where the tents were erected in the Shebaa Farms and Kfar Shuba Hills in Syria in 1967, and it forms part of the Syrian Golan Heights that Israel annexed in 1981. In contrast, the Lebanese government says the area is Lebanese territory.
Israeli media reported earlier this month that Hezbollah had evacuated one of the two tents, but there was no confirmation from Lebanon.
After Mikati and Lazaro’s meeting, Bouhabib told reporters that the UN team conveyed the Israeli request to remove the tent, adding that Lebanese officials had told Lazaro, “We want them (the Israelis) to retreat from northern Ghajar, which is considered Lebanese territory.”
The village of Ghajar was occupied by Israel from Syria in 1967 when it captured the Golan Heights. After the Israeli army ended its 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon in 2000, United Nations observers divided the village of Ghajar between Lebanon and the Israeli-controlled Golan, but Israel reoccupied the northern half during the 2006 war.
Lebanese officials said that Israel has built a wall in recent weeks around the Lebanese part of the village of Ghajar, warning against Israel annexing it to its part of the town.
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2023-07-10 19:43:00
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