Bassil Raises Complaint on Israeli Incursions in Ghajar and Shebaa

Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil asked Lebanon's mission to the United Nations to file a complaint to the Security Council about Israel's incursions in the southern towns of Ghajar and Shebaa Farms, the National News Agency reported on Friday.

Bassil sent a letter to the mission in New York about Israel's violations which he said are “violating U.N. resolution 1701, the people's rights and the Lebanese sovereignty.”

“Since the Israeli occupation forces persist to violate Lebanon's sovereignty and fail to comply with the international resolutions particularly 1701, we hereby ask you to inform the concerned authorities in the United Nations, particularly the UN Security Council, of Israel's offenses in both the occupied Lebanese part of Ghajar and the Shebaa Farms,” said the letter.

Israeli forces have imposed new rules, regulations and taxes in the occupied parts of the town and established new settlements.

In the occupied Shebaa Farms, Israel began construction works to open new roads and other infrastructure activities.

On Thursday, Hizbullah condemned Israel's practices and called on the Lebanese state to “practice its normal role of defending Lebanon's sovereignty” and to “take the necessary measures in the face of the rejected Israeli moves.”

“It reveals the unrestrained Zionist ambitions regarding Lebanon's land and resources,” a Hizbullah statement had said.

Israel fought a devastating month-long war in 2006 against Hizbullah that killed more than 1,200 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 160 Israelis, most of them soldiers.

The Lebanese group has targeted Israeli army patrols in the Shebaa Farms in response to strikes against its members in Syria, most recently on January 4.