Beirut: The commander of the UN peacekeeping force on the Israel-Lebanon border said on Monday that he is in touch with representatives of both nations regarding the unrest surrounding two tents erected by the militant Hezbollah organisation last month. In June, Israel complained to the UN, saying that Hezbollah had erected tents a few dozen metres (yards) inside Israeli territory.
The Chebaa Farms area and the Kfar Chouba hills were taken from Syria by Israel during the 1967 Middle East conflict and are a part of the Syrian Golan Heights, which Israel annexed in 1981. According to the Lebanese government, the region is Lebanon's.
The Iranian-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah has not confirmed that it evacuated one of the two tents as reported by Israeli media on Sunday.
Maj. Gen. Aroldo Lázaro, the commander of UNIFIL, the UN organisation tasked with maintaining peace, "continues to be in direct contact with authorities on both sides of the Blue Line to resolve the situation of the tents," according to a statement released by UNIFIL to The Associated Press. The blue line is the boundary established following Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.
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According to UNIFIL, "We are looking into reports that a tent has been moved north of the Blue Line." Any unwelcome presence or activity "near the Blue Line is a concern, and has the potential to heighten tension and cause misunderstandings," according to UNIFIL.
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The tents are in Lebanon, according to Mohammed Raad, the leader of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc. "You cannot remove two tents," he continued, referring to Israel, "because there is resistance and strong men in this country."