At War for Decades, Lebanon and Israel Agree a Rare Compromise

A UN peacekeeper (UNIFIL) vehicle drives near signs bearing names of cities, in Naqoura, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, October 11, 2022. (Reuters)
A UN peacekeeper (UNIFIL) vehicle drives near signs bearing names of cities, in Naqoura, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, October 11, 2022. (Reuters)
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At War for Decades, Lebanon and Israel Agree a Rare Compromise

A UN peacekeeper (UNIFIL) vehicle drives near signs bearing names of cities, in Naqoura, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, October 11, 2022. (Reuters)
A UN peacekeeper (UNIFIL) vehicle drives near signs bearing names of cities, in Naqoura, near the Lebanese-Israeli border, southern Lebanon, October 11, 2022. (Reuters)

Oct. 18 - Lebanon and Israel have agreed to a US-mediated agreement ending a decades-old dispute over their maritime boundary on Tuesday, a landmark compromise between countries with a history of war.

Here is a timeline of conflict between the states:

1948

Lebanon fights alongside other Arab states against the nascent state of Israel. Some 100,000 Palestinians who fled or were expelled from their homes in Palestine during the war arrive in Lebanon as refugees.

1949

Lebanon and Israel conclude an armistice agreement under UN auspices.

1968

Israeli commandos destroyed a dozen passenger planes at Beirut airport, a response to an attack on an Israeli airliner by a Lebanon-based Palestinian group.

1978

Israel invades south Lebanon and sets up an occupation zone in an operation against Palestinian guerrillas.

1982

Israel invades all the way to Beirut. The Syrian army is ousted from Beirut and thousands of Palestinian fighters under Yasser Arafat are evacuated by sea after a bloody 10-week siege.

Head of Christian militia Lebanese Forces, Bashir al-Gemayel, is elected president but killed before taking office.

Bashir's brother, Amin al-Gemayel, becomes president.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards establish Hezbollah in Lebanon.

1985

Israel establishes an occupation zone in southern Lebanon, about 15 km (nine miles) deep, after it pulled back from a line further north, controlling the area with a proxy force, the South Lebanon Army.

1996

With Hezbollah regularly attacking Israeli forces in the south and firing rockets into northern Israel, Israel mounts the 17-day "Operation Grapes of Wrath" offensive that kills more than 200 people in Lebanon, including 102 who die when Israel shells a UN base near the south Lebanon village of Qana.

2000

Israel withdraws from southern Lebanon, ending 22 years of occupation.

2006

In July, Hezbollah crosses the border into Israel, kidnaps two Israeli soldiers and kills others, sparking a five-week war. While most of the conflict is fought on land, an Israeli navy vessel is damaged in a Hezbollah missile attack. At least 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 158 Israelis, mostly soldiers, are killed.

2020

The United States revives indirect negotiations between Lebanon and Israel aimed at reaching an agreement on their disputed maritime boundary, with the aim of facilitating oil and gas exploration. Indirect US-mediated talks first began years earlier but never reached a conclusion.

2022

The Lebanese and Israeli governments agree to a US-brokered deal demarcating the maritime boundary, calling it historic. The deal opens the way to offshore oil and gas exploration, and defuses a potential source of conflict.



Gaza Carpenter Crafts Wooden Sandals for Daughters as War Rages

 Palestinian Saber Dawas crafts wooden sandals due to a shortage of footwear in the enclave and the lack of financial means to afford those which are available in the market, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the the southern Gaza Strip, September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem Purchase Licensing Rights
Palestinian Saber Dawas crafts wooden sandals due to a shortage of footwear in the enclave and the lack of financial means to afford those which are available in the market, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the the southern Gaza Strip, September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem Purchase Licensing Rights
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Gaza Carpenter Crafts Wooden Sandals for Daughters as War Rages

 Palestinian Saber Dawas crafts wooden sandals due to a shortage of footwear in the enclave and the lack of financial means to afford those which are available in the market, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the the southern Gaza Strip, September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem Purchase Licensing Rights
Palestinian Saber Dawas crafts wooden sandals due to a shortage of footwear in the enclave and the lack of financial means to afford those which are available in the market, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis in the the southern Gaza Strip, September 9, 2024. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem Purchase Licensing Rights

Twelve-year-old Heba Dawas lost her footwear in the chaos while fleeing Israel's military offensive in Gaza.

So her carpenter father made wooden-soled sandals for her so she can tread more safely through the tonnes of rubble, hot sand and twisted metal of the besieged Palestinian enclave.

"When we were displaced, we started running and the sandals broke," said Heba, who lives in a tent camp with her family in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis.

"I threw them off and started running. Our feet became very hot. So, we had to make sandals from wood," she said, walking on hot sand with her new footwear.

Her father Saber Dawas, 39, came up with the idea after finding the price of sandals too expensive. Now his daughter does not have to go barefoot amid the ruins of Gaza.

"I had to make a tailored size for each daughter," Reuters quoted Dawas saying.

- SANDALS IN DEMAND

Soon enough, his neighbours noticed him making the sandals and started asking him to make some for their children.

Using basic carpentry tools, he made them for "a symbolic price," he says.

The sandals have a wooden sole and a strap made of a rubber strip or fabric. But there was a challenge in finding more wood because Palestinians needed it for cooking and fires.

"Everything here in Gaza is difficult to find," Dawas said, rubbing the base of a sandal with one of his young daughters watching by his side.

Making wooden sandals may ease the pressure of the war but life is still fraught with challenges in Gaza, where the Israeli offensive against Hamas has killed more than 41,000 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Nearly 2 million people have been displaced, often repeatedly, Gazan health officials say.

Hamas triggered the war on Oct. 7 when the Palestinian militant group attacked Israel.

A humanitarian crisis has gripped Gaza since then with Palestinians struggling to find food, water and fuel as they move up and down the territory seeking a safe place to shelter.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt have failed to secure a ceasefire through mediation after many attempts.

The border crossing with Egypt has been shut, bringing the flow of aid and basic goods such as shoes to a halt.

"People now are walking around with mismatched shoes," said Momen al-Qarra, a Palestinian cobbler repairing old shoes in a little market in Khan Younis.

"If the situation continues like this for two weeks or a month at the most, without the opening of the border, people will be barefoot."