UN Mediates Israel-Lebanon Dispute Over Tents in Contested Area
The commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Aroldo Lázaro Sáenz, is mediating between Lebanon and Israel over the placement of two tents by Hizbullah, the mainly Shiite Lebanese political and military group, in a contested area, the deputy director of UNIFIL’s Media Office reported on Monday.
Mohammed Raad, leader of Hizbullah’s parliamentary bloc, asserted on Saturday that the tents were on Lebanese soil. However, Israel lodged a complaint with the United Nations in June, alleging that the tents are within Israeli boundaries.
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The tents are positioned in the Shebaa Farms and Kfarchouba hills, territories seized by Israel from Syria during the 1967 Middle East conflict and annexed in 1981, but which Lebanon has since claimed.
Sáenz is in “direct contact with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line to resolve the situation of the tents,” according to a statement by UNIFIL quoted by Lebanon’s National News Agency.
The UNIFIL statement also mentions that “a tent has been moved north of the Blue Line,” a boundary established by the United Nations in 2000 to assess whether Israel had fully withdrawn from Lebanon. The statement further noted that any unauthorized presence or activity near the Blue Line could escalate tensions and misunderstandings.
Hizbullah, backed by Iran, and Israel, engaged in a monthlong conflict in 2006 that concluded with a UN-brokered cease-fire.
