Israel starts building a wall on the border with Lebanon
The controversial dividing line object of fierce criticism of the Lebanese government. It also worries the Unifil summits engaged in the peace mission. The spokesman stresses that every operation along the Blue Line must be agreed and coordinated to avoid rising tensions. Netanyahu accuses Beirut of favoring Iran in the construction of precision weapons. Israeli air raids on Damascus.
Beirut (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The Israeli government yesterday began construction of a controversial security barrier along the border that separates the Jewish state from Lebanon. A barrier that the leaders of Beirut have already strongly criticized, emphasizing that it "invades" its national territory. The tension between Lebanon and Israel has risen, after fiery charges launched by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that Beirut has allowed Iran to build "high precision missile factories".
The construction of the partition wall between Lebanon and Israel also worries the spokesperson of the United Nations peacekeeping force (Unifil) long engaged in patrolling the territory between the two nations. In a note Andrea Tenenti confirms the start of the work in the Naqoura area and underlines that the military are "engaged in the confrontation with both parties to find common solutions".
He added "any work that is conducted along the Blue Line should be predictable and also coordinated with UNIFIL in order to prevent misunderstanding and decrease tension".
Israel in recent days has raised the level of confrontation, so far verbal, with Lebanon over ties between Beirut and Iran and for the control of some natural gas deposits off the coast (Block 9), along the maritime border which separates the two States. The Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman called the moves of the Lebanese government "highly provocative", claiming ownership of the entire field.
Lebanese pro-Shiite movement Hezbollah and the highest Lebanese institutions, including the Prime Minister (Sunni) Saad Hariri staunchly rejected the claim. Lieberman's words are a "blatant provocation that Lebanon rejects.".
Recently, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke about Lebanon during an official meeting in Moscow with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. He denounced what he calls "Iran's attempt to turn Lebanon into a large missile site" for "production of high-precision missiles against Israel".
Finally, yesterday, just before dawn, Israeli fighters hit the Syrian military research center of Jimrayah, north of Damascus, for the second time. Syrian sources report that the Israeli fighter-jets with launched their missiles from Lebanese airspace, some of the devices were intercepted by Syrian anti-air defenses and exploded in flight.
The attack was confirmed by the Syrian official media. In contrast, the Israeli armed forces have neither confirmed nor denied it; however, in the last six years the Israeli army has admitted that it has carried out "dozens of raids in Syria". Most of them targeted deposits or weapons convoys, munitions or military material linked to Hezbollah, in Lebanese territory.
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17/08/2018 10:55
10/10/2023 13:40
