Army general: ‘Lebanon does not recognise Blue Line inside occupied Shebaa Farms’

Lebanese Armed Forces brigadier, General Munir Shehadeh, conveyed that his country does not recognise the Blue Line inside the Israeli-occupied Shebaa Farms drawn by the United Nations (UN) in the wake of Israel’s withdrawal from south Lebanon in 2000.

“The Shebaa Farms are occupied Lebanese territory and we do not acknowledge the Blue Line in them,” General Shehadeh asserted during a tour organised on Tuesday by the Lebanese Armed Forces on the Blue Line for representatives of the UN Security Council members.

General Shehadeh explained that the tour aims to inform the ambassadors and international community about 13 border areas contested with Israel ahead of the Security Council vote on renewing the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) mandate on 31 August.

He stressed that the blue line is a “line of withdrawal” and not a “demarcation of borders” and that Lebanon wants to emphasise that its southern border with Israel begins in the southwestern town of Naqoura and ends at the southeastern Wazzani River.

General Shehadeh explained that Lebanon sent a memo to the UN explaining that the northern part of the Ghajar village is not called the: “Outskirts of the town of Al-Mari, because the Ghajar village is Syrian and its constructional expansion has spread to Lebanese territory in the outskirts of the town of Al-Mari.”

He noted that due to the economic situation, the Lebanese army does not accompany most UNIFIL forces’ patrols.

The tour included representatives of the diplomatic missions of the Security Council’s permanent members in Beirut as well as the military attachés of the embassies of France, the UK, Russia, the US and China.

Shehadeh stated that while Israel knew of the diplomatic missions tour, it had violated Lebanon’s territorial waters earlier in the day.

The border area between Lebanon and Israel has recently witnessed security tensions due to the Israeli army’s attempt to bulldoze lands and build a concrete wall, rejected by Lebanon because the area is occupied by Israel.

On 11 July, Lebanon filed an official complaint with the UN against Israel for “consecrating” its occupation of the Lebanese part of the border town of Ghajar.

READ: Israel files complaint against Lebanon at UN Security Council