Lebanon’s Foreign Minister Abdullah Bou Habib announced, following a meeting with a delegation from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s caretaker government, that the delegation conveyed Israel’s demand to remove the tent on the southern Lebanese border. Lebanon, in turn, urged Israel to withdraw from northern Ghajar.
During the meeting, which was attended by General Stefano Del Col, the UNIFIL Commander, Bou Habib stated, “We discussed the security situation in the south, and they conveyed the Israeli side’s demand to remove the tent. Our response was that we want them to withdraw from northern Ghajar, which is Lebanese territory. From our side, we recorded around 18 Israeli violations of the border.”
When asked about UN Resolution 1701 and the renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate, Bou Habib explained, “The report of the United Nations Secretary-General will be discussed on July 20th, and the renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate will take place in the last week of August. The Prime Minister informed them that I will lead the Lebanese delegation to New York.”
It is worth mentioning that Lebanese citizens from the villages of Kfarshuba and Mays Al-Jabal in southern Lebanon had set up two tents on their land to remain there after the incident involving Ismail Nasser, who stood against an Israeli bulldozer that was excavating his land on June 10th.
As a result, the residents of Kfarshuba and Mays Al-Jabal gathered to protest on their land and set up two tents to stay there.
Israel declared that Hezbollah was responsible for setting up the tents in Mays Al-Jabal and the hills of Kfarshuba and demanded their removal.
On the other hand, Hezbollah considered the tents to be established on Lebanese sovereign territory and asserted that citizens have the right to erect structures on their own land.
In addition, Israel recently took control of the entire Ghajar town and built a cement wall around the entire town, including the northern part of the village.
The Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates called on the international community to exert pressure on Israel to reverse its provocative actions.
