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.
