Click to see full-size image. By Ali Shoeib.
On June 10, Israeli troops fired tear gas to disperse dozens of protesters who hurled stones at a force attempting to violate the separation line on the edge of the Lebanese border village of Kfar Chouba.
Tensions began to mount on the front on June 7 when a Lebanese farmer, Ismail Nasser, attempted to stop an Israeli military bulldozer from digging a trench along the separation line. Peacekeepers from the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) intervened and convinced the bulldozer to retreat just before it ran over the farmer, whose legs were buried in sand.
The protest was held in support of Nasser. Some of the protesters tried to break through the separation line to an area overlooked by an Israeli military post. Israeli troops fired tear gas to disperse them while Lebanese troops and UNIFIL peacekeepers later moved in and pushed the protesters back.
Ali Shoeib, a reporter for the Hezbollah-affiliated Lebanese news outlet Al-Manar, posted videos on Twitter showing the clashes.
Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for UNIFIL, said peacekeepers were on the ground working to decrease tension along the separation line.
“We have urged the parties to utilize our coordination mechanisms effectively to prevent misunderstandings, violations, and contribute to the preservation of stability in the area,” Tenenti said. He added that UNIFIL leadership is in contact with the parties, seeking a solution.
“We call upon both sides to exercise restraint and avoid actions along the blue line that may escalate tensions,” Tenenti told The Associated Press.
Composed of around 10,000 troops, the UNIFIL has been in Lebanon since 1978. The peacekeeping force is deployed in the south of the country, a stronghold of Hezbollah, to observe the separation line with Israel, also known as the “Blue Line,” as the two countries technically remain at war.
Kfar Chouba hills and the nearby Chebaa Farms, are areas occupied by Israel during the 1967 war and claimed by Lebanon.
The Israeli military said in a statement that Lebanese protesters “tried to vandalize the barrier and threw stones at the IDF forces operating in the area.”
“The forces responded with riot dispersal means. The IDF will not allow any attempt to violate the sovereignty of the State of Israel,” the military added.
Later, the Lebanese military said in a statement that an “extraordinary tripartite meeting” was held in Naqoura between Lebanese and Israeli military officers, headed by Lazaro.
The “Lebanese side discussed the repeated Israeli attacks on Lebanon, and the continuous violations of Lebanese sovereignty by land, sea and air, and held the Israeli enemy responsible for the consequences of these attacks, and called on the UN to exert maximum pressure to stop them,” the Lebanese Army statement said.
“The Lebanese side also reaffirmed Lebanon’s commitment to UN resolutions, particularly Resolution 1701 and its provisions, stressing the need for the Israeli enemy to withdraw from all the occupied Lebanese territories, which are the Shebaa Farms and the Kfar Shuba Hills.”
Last month, tensions mounted along the separation line between Israel and Lebanon following a military exercise by Hezbollah. Both sides dropped leaflets along the separation line warning against any violation and stepped up reconnaissance.
Repeated Israeli provocations along the line could eventually lead to a limited confrontation with Hezbollah, or the Lebanese military.
terrorists never change. israel must be stopped and given lesson for life.
that monster made me scream when i saw bulldozer without pardon running nearly over a man. terrorists must be wiped off of the earth.
do you know what side hezbollah supported during yugoslav wars?
yeah, go blow up some hisbollah asses!!
the muslim allah supports israel.
israelis who dont believe in god, they believe they have a right to territory because they are god’s chosen. surely, only religious jews should be allowed to have any part of the holy lands god did send the israelis into exile many a time. as the muslims and christians are descended from the jews from the times of jesus who became christians and then became muslims, the jews hardly have any rights to a nation when they dont keep to ancient customs.
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the old covenant has been replaced by the new one, so should christians be the ones who live in these lands? the jews who converted to christianity, perhaps they should have these lands? before the nation state of israel was created by man, from a deal with the british government and the rothschilds, the people in the holy lands were living in peace, christians jews and muslim. .
displacing people who live in these lands has been done abhorrently, without thought to ‘love thy neighbour’. they should have been offered good alternative lands with the choice to remain
you should change your moniker to “brainless idiot”
i don’t know if israel is acting good on that one.
khazar filth will be cleansed from palestine and the day is not far off.
yeah right il stupido.
and the day that’s not far off never comes huh dumbass?
israelis apparently can’t exist without invading other countries and beating up or just killing civilians and demolishing their homes!
le aggressioni militari con invasioni e occupazione militare dello stato israeliano vengono sempre protette e giustificate dai criminali paesi usa-uk-ue-nato !
se israele domani mattina invade il libano tutto va bene per i paesi porci criminali di usa-uk-ue-nato !
gli eroici partigiani libanesi massacrati dagli israeliani verranno derisi ie umiliati dagli usa e dai paesi filo-usa che non forniranno nemmeno 1 benda per curare i feriti libanesi !
rachel corrie.