Report: Lebanon Launches Talks with UNIFIL after Israeli Violations
The Lebanese army and General Security kicked off contacts with the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon after the Israeli incursions in the southern towns of Ghajar and Shebaa farms, al-Joumhouria daily reported on Saturday.
General Security chief Maj. Gen. Abbas Ibrahim visited on Friday the leadership headquarters of the UNIFIL and met with Maj. Gen. Michael Beary, the newly-appointed head of UNIFIL in Lebanon.
The two men assessed the security situation on the southern border and the Israeli violations of the Blue Line, and the cooperation between the General Security and the UNIFIL leadership in the framework of the tasks entrusted to it in implementation of international resolutions, particularly resolution 1701.
Early this week, Israel began construction works to open new roads and other infrastructure activities in the occupied Shebaa Farms.
Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil asked Lebanon's mission to the United Nations on Friday to file a complaint to the Security Council about Israel's incursions in Ghajar and Shebaa, the National News Agency had said.
“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 Bassil’s letter.
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.
