LEBANON: Lebanese welcome reported Israeli withdrawal from village but remain sceptical

Record ID: 395795

  • Title: LEBANON: Lebanese welcome reported Israeli withdrawal from village but remain sceptical
  • Date: 9th November 2010
  • Summary: SLATE INFORMATION
  • Embargoed: 24th November 2010 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Lebanon
  • Country: Lebanon
  • Topics: War / Fighting,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA52MU4CR7S2L3BZ1ZQD4TZS8M5
  • Story Text: Lebanese citizens on Monday (November 08) said they would welcome an Israeli withdrawal from the disputed village of Ghajar along the Lebanese border but some are skeptical of whether a withdrawal will actually happen.
    A political source said on Sunday (November 07) that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will present a plan to the United Nations for the withdrawal on Monday.
    The village of Ghajar, which straddles the Israel-Lebanon border but whose residents profess allegiance to Syria, has for years been an occasional flashpoint for violence between Israeli troops and Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas.
    ''They are not Lebanese, the land is Lebanese but the people are not Lebanese. This land was occupied and its people are Syrian Alawite," said Mohamed, a Ghajar farmer.
    Earlier this year a U.N. official in Lebanon said the two countries needed to make progress on demarcating their border, called the "blue line", which is monitored on the Lebanese side by a U.N. peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL.
    Ghajar lies on the foothills of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights captured from Syria in a 1967 war. Residents have Israeli citizenship and work in Israel. They don't want Lebanon to control the village because they say they are Syrian.
    In 2000, a U.N. panel placed the northern part of Ghajar in Lebanon. But Israel re-took control of that during its 2006 war with Hezbollah, because of frequent clashes there.
    Hezbollah, an ally of Syria, largely rules south Lebanon and is now a powerful political player in Beirut. It has said it would not recognise any Israeli control in Ghajar and has attacked Israeli forces deemed to be on Lebanese soil.
    Netanyahu will present the recommendations of a military panel to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon when the two meet in New York on Monday, said the source, who refused to be identified further.
    In Beirut, newspapers ran headlines about the withdrawal and residents welcomed the move but had doubts of Israel's intentions.
    ''It is not a bad thing if this turns out to be true, but Israel always says it will withdraw from it and it never does. I think this is a political maneuvre so they can turn the attention away from the Palestinian issue and show that they are withdrawing from somewhere. But Israel always lies, you can't believe anything it says," said Fadi, a Lebanese citizen.
    Netanyahu begins a U.S. visit in New Orleans on Sunday where he will meet North American Jewish leaders before continuing to New York to see Ban and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
    U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams said in August following a clash at another point along the 120 kilometre (75 mile) border that an Israeli withdrawal from the northern part of Ghajar would help restore trust.
    ENDS.
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