عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

Lebanon: Tripartite Committee to Tackle Border dispute between Lebanon and Israel

People look at the northern Israeli town of Metula, from Kafr Kila, southern Lebanon, 12 July 2023. EPA/Ziad Choufi
People look at the northern Israeli town of Metula, from Kafr Kila, southern Lebanon, 12 July 2023. EPA/Ziad Choufi
TT
TT

Lebanon: Tripartite Committee to Tackle Border dispute between Lebanon and Israel

People look at the northern Israeli town of Metula, from Kafr Kila, southern Lebanon, 12 July 2023. EPA/Ziad Choufi
People look at the northern Israeli town of Metula, from Kafr Kila, southern Lebanon, 12 July 2023. EPA/Ziad Choufi

The tripartite committee composed of UNIFIL officers and senior figures from the Lebanese army and the Israeli side will follow up on the latest Israeli violations against Lebanon’s southern territory, ruling out a feared military escalation between the two countries.

Tensions escalated recently between Lebanon and Israel after Israel in recent weeks built a wall around the Lebanese part of Ghajar, a border town that straddles the Mediterranean country and Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights. Hezbollah has also erected two tents in a disputed border area in the Shebaa farms, in southeast Lebanon.

American mediation in this conflict has not been recorded but was strictly limited to urging the rival sides to avoid any provocations.

Meanwhile, following the visit of US envoy Amos Hochstein to Tel Aviv on Tuesday, expectations surfaced that a US mediation could possibly be in sight to assist with the demarcation of the land border between Lebanon and Israel.

But Deputy Speaker Elias Bou Saab told Asharq Al-Awsat that “neither the Americans offered to mediate nor did Lebanon ask for any American effort in this particular matter”.

Hochstein is the US envoy mediating between Lebanon and Israel over their disputed maritime border.

Moreover, and after reports that Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim was tasked with leading negotiations with the US on the matter, unnamed Lebanese sources said the claims were inaccurate.

“Today, and working through a tripartite committee is highly recommended, because at the core of its tasks is to address the violations against the land borders,” Lebanese sources told Asharq Al-Awsat on condition of anonymity.

A monthly meeting between the UNIFIL head in Lebanon and senior officers from the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) and the Israeli army is held at a UN position in Ras Al Naqoura to tackle security and military matters between the two countries.

Tension escalated on Wednesday when an explosion near Lebanon’s border with Israel slightly wounded at least three members of the militant Hezbollah group, a Lebanese security official had said.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said the army “deterred activists with nonlethal means.”

UNIFIL said: “We urge everyone to cease any action that may lead to escalation of any kind.”

Hezbollah had no immediate comment on the incident.

Lebanese officials said that Israel in recent weeks has built a wall around the Lebanese part of Ghajar, a border town that straddles the tiny Mediterranean country and Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan Heights.

Lebanon’s foreign minister asked the country’s permanent mission to the United Nations to file a complaint on the matter.

Israel meanwhile in June filed a complaint with the UN claiming that Hezbollah had set up tents several dozen meters (yards) within Israeli territory. It’s unclear what the tents were used for and what was inside them. They were erected in Shebaa Farms and the Kfar Chouba hills, which Israeli captured from Syria during the 1967 Mideast War and annexed in 1981, though Lebanon claims the area belongs to them.

Israel considers Hezbollah its most serious immediate threat, and estimates that it has some 150,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Lebanese Army Conducts 500 Missions to Dismantle Hezbollah Infrastructure South of Litani River

A Lebanese Army vehicle near a destroyed position in the town of Naqoura in South Lebanon (AFP)
A Lebanese Army vehicle near a destroyed position in the town of Naqoura in South Lebanon (AFP)
TT
TT

Lebanese Army Conducts 500 Missions to Dismantle Hezbollah Infrastructure South of Litani River

A Lebanese Army vehicle near a destroyed position in the town of Naqoura in South Lebanon (AFP)
A Lebanese Army vehicle near a destroyed position in the town of Naqoura in South Lebanon (AFP)

The Lebanese army has intensified its efforts to stop Israel from finding excuses for the ceasefire agreement in South Lebanon to endure. Since the ceasefire was declared on November 27, the army has carried out approximately 500 missions to inspect potential Hezbollah sites, dismantle infrastructure, and confiscate weapons.

Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah and Israel are both supposed to withdraw from southern Lebanon by Sunday to allow the Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers to provide security.

According to sources monitoring the implementation of the agreement, Hezbollah is “fully cooperating with the decisions of the Lebanese authorities.”

Israel has warned residents of over 62 towns south of the Litani River against returning to their villages. While Israel has not established any permanent military posts on Lebanese soil, it has conducted incursions and demolitions in 38 villages and towns. Israeli forces have fully withdrawn from nine of these areas, with the Lebanese army swiftly deploying in them and preparing to assume control in others.

Israeli media leaks suggest that Israel might retain control of three border points: Hamames Hill in Khiam, facing the Metula settlement; a site in Harsh Al-Labouneh in the western sector near Naqoura and Alma Al-Shaab, facing settlements in western Galilee; and Jabal Balat in the central sector near Ramiyeh, opposite the Zar’it and Shtula settlements. These claims are allegedly based on the assertion that the Lebanese army and UNIFIL have not yet completed their assignments.

However, security sources affirmed to Asharq Al-Awsat that the army has fulfilled its responsibilities, dismantling most of Hezbollah’s military infrastructure south of the Litani River. The sources stressed that the army has promptly addressed every potential site or facility reported by the ceasefire monitoring committee.

Hezbollah has reportedly not objected to any army or UNIFIL operations involving inspections, confiscation of weapons, or clearing of storage depots. Security officials revealed that the army seizes all weapons and ammunition found south of the Litani River without consulting any other parties, in accordance with political directives to enforce UN Resolution 1701. The confiscated weapons and ammunition are disposed of daily by engineering teams at three designated demolition sites.

In collaboration with and under the supervision of UNIFIL, the Lebanese army has carried out 500 missions to inspect and dismantle potential Hezbollah sites, including 100 weapons depots confirmed by the UN Secretary-General during his recent visit to southern Lebanon.

The army has also deployed in areas that Israeli troops have withdrawn from, fully complying with monitoring committee instructions despite provocations by Israeli forces. These provocations include Israeli drones dropping sound bombs near army personnel, repeated incursions into Lebanese territory, and detonations near UNIFIL units. One such incident recently injured seven members of the Finnish battalion.

The Lebanese army has documented more than 1,500 Israeli violations since the ceasefire, including land, sea, and air breaches, demolitions of buildings, and destruction of roads.