- Israel to uphold UN Resolution 1701 by departing from Ghajar
- Netanyahu to meet Ban Ki-Moon, discuss cooperation with UNIFIL
- Lebanese PM speaks of peace as Hariri inquiry set for announcement
Israel’s northern border with Lebanon
Jerusalem, Nov. 7 – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will, according to media reports, announce Israel’s planned withdrawal from Ghajar, a village of 2,200, that straddles the Israeli-Lebanese border, during his meeting with United Nations Secretary General Ban-ki Moon on Monday, Nov. 8.
Israel was reportedly informed by the United States and the U.N. that its withdrawal from Ghajar would bring stability to Israel’s northern border and strengthen Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri and his moderate political allies.
Israel wants to return control of the northern-section of Ghajar to Lebanon in order to comply with U.N. Resolution 1701, which led to the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and was unanimously adopted by the U.N. Security Council in 2006. Israel intends to give back Ghajar despite the fear that it will become a strategic point for Iran-backed Hezbollah.
Hariri said that Israeli-Arab peace is the most influential factor affecting stability in the region in a recent interview with the BBC.
Although the village has changed hands between Lebanon and Israel numerous times since the Arab-Israeli war of 1967, Ghajar was under United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) control from 2000—until Israel placed troops there again following its defensive war against Hezbollah in 2006.
Israel’s returning of the northern portion of Ghajar to Lebanese control presents a delicate political situation. The residents of Ghajar, mostly Alawite, view themselves as closer to Syria than Lebanon.
Israel’s gesture towards Lebanon comes as the independent U.N. tribunal investigating the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri, father of the current Lebanese prime minister, is to make an announcement. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and U.S. leaders have called for “calm” when the findings are made public.
Hezbollah is suspected of involvement in the killing of Hariri. The indictment of Hezbollah members could provoke violence between Hezbollah’s Shi’ite base and Hariri’s Sunni-dominated political bloc.
Hezbollah has long made attempts to debunk the legitimacy of the independent commission investigating Hariri’s death. The BBC reported that Hezbollah’s leader, Hassan Nasrallah, called on all Lebanese to boycott the investigation. Hezbollah also told BBC Arabic that indicting its members would be very dangerous for Lebanon.
Hezbollah is a very powerful military and political force in Lebanon with 11 ministers serving in the current government.
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