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Lebanon calls for removal of barbed wire erected by Israel at the border

February 1, 2023 at 6:10 pm

UNIFIL take measures as Lebanese soldiers prevent Israeli army’s heavy duty machines to operate at the border near “Blue Line”, which is under surveillance of United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, claiming the Israeli army violate the Lebanese soil in Kfarkela, Lebanon [Ali Abdo – Anadolu Agency]

The Lebanese army called yesterday for the removal of barbed wire erected by Israel in a disputed area on Lebanon’s southern border. The call was made during an extraordinary meeting of officers from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese and Israeli armies at the UNIFIL headquarters in Ras Al-Naqoura, southern Lebanon.

“An extraordinary tripartite meeting was held in Ras al-Naqoura, headed by the commander of UNIFIL, Major General Aroldo Lazaro, in the presence of a delegation of Lebanese army officers headed by the Lebanese government’s coordinator in the UN forces, Brigadier General Mounir Shehadeh,” said the Lebanese army. “The need to remove the barbed wire recently placed by the Israeli enemy in the area that Lebanon has maintained on the Blue Line in the town of Adaysah was stressed during the discussion.”

Lebanon also wants the Israelis to remove the fence on Ras Al-Naqoura hill north of the Blue Line, as well as the concrete wall in the same area between Lebanon and occupied Palestine.

During the meeting, the Lebanese representatives took the opportunity to repeat the need for the Israelis to withdraw from all the occupied Lebanese territory: the Shebaa Farms, the Kfar Shuba Hills, the outskirts of the town of Al-Mari, thirteen areas that Lebanon reserves on the Blue Line, and seventeen other areas that are subject to permanent breaches of the Blue Line.

The Blue Line was set by the UN for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon in 2000. Lebanon maintains some of the areas it passes through in light of Israel’s continued occupation of Lebanese territory.

The Lebanese authorities complain about Israel’s violation of its airspace and territorial waters on an almost daily basis, and calls on the UN to intervene to stop these violations, especially the Israeli bombing of Syria using Lebanese airspace. Last week, clashes took place on the southern border after the Lebanese army prevented Israeli soldiers from completing excavation work near the border fence in Al-Mutalla settlement opposite the Kafr Kila area in southern Lebanon.

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