29 July 2009

BEIRUT: Tensions ran high in south Lebanon Tuesday after Israel moved four Merkava tanks from the Arqoub region and deployed them 100 meters from the Hassan Gate in the oc-cupied Kfar Shuba Hills region. The tanks' redeployment was accompanied by Israeli warplanes hovering over the area, before flying above the southern region of Hasbaya and Marjayoun. The regions of Beirut and West Bekaa also witnessed intensive Israeli overflights.

In response to the Israeli moves in south Lebanon, the Lebanese Army announced in a statement carried by the state-run National News Agency its readiness to confront any Israe-li assaults on Lebanon.

Both the UN peacekeepers and the army were placed on high alert on Tuesday.

The Israeli border fortifications Tuesday came after the Israeli press reported that Israel's military officials were concerned that "future dangerous incidents" would take place on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

Israel's The Jerusalem Post newspaper reported on Tuesday that the Israeli Army started establishing training facilities within its military bases "specialized in urban warfare."

However, Israeli Army commander Gabi Ashkenazi said on Tuesday he did not view the situation in the north as indicative of an impending war.

"We are seriously tracking the events on the northern border," Ashkenazi said during a tour of the Israeli military recruitment headquarters near Tel Aviv. "It is quiet up there, and I am not aware of winds of war in the area," he added.

According to a report published in The Jerusalem Post, Ashkenazi stressed that the explosion of a suspected arms depot in the southern village of Khirbet Silim on July 14, "proved Israeli claims that Hizbullah was strengthening their fighting capabilities."

"We view this [event] gravely, [considering that this area] is under the watch of UNIFIL and the Lebanese government," Ashkenazi said.

However, a letter sent by Lebanon's Foreign Ministry to the UN headquarters regarding the explosion said the blast had been caused by munitions left behind by Israeli soldiers in a building under construction following the July 2006 war.

On Tuesday, a four-hour meeting was held between senior Lebanese and Israeli Army officials as well as UNIFIL commander General Claudio Graziano at UNIFIL's headquarters in the southern port town of Naqoura to discuss the implementation of Resolution 1701, which put an end to the summer 2006 war with Israel.

The talks were part of the usual monthly tripartite meeting held between Lebanese and Israeli Army representatives with UNIFIL to discuss military operations in south Lebanon, UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouziane told The Daily Star on Tuesday.

"The meetings aim to prevent any incidents or violations to Re-solution 1701," Bouziane said.

The Security Council warned Monday evening against the worsening security situation in south Lebanon following the Kfar Shuba and Khirbet Silim incidents, which represented a threat to stability in the region, said Assistant Secretary General for political Affairs Oscar Fernandez Taranco.

Earlier this month, 14 UNIFIL peacekeepers were injured when protesters confronted them near the southern village of Khirbet Silim. About 100 residents attempted to impede an investigation by UNIFIL into the blasts of a suspected arms depot in the village.

Also in early July, Lebanese civilian demonstrators cut through barbed wire and briefly occupied an Israeli unmanned observation post in the Kfar Shuba Hills.

During a Security Council meeting on the Middle East, Taranco urged both the Israeli and Lebanese sides to halt their violations of Resolution 1701. Taranco stressed that investigations into violations of Resolution 1701 were taking place in south Lebanon, while highlighting the daily Israeli breaches to Lebanese air space.

Tackling meetings between Lebanese officials and UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon Michael Williams last week, Taranco said Williams underscored during talks with politicians the gravity of the violations of Resolution 1701.

"To calm the situation, the special coordinator had also visited Israel where he requested the removal of the newly established Israeli watchtower in Kfar Shuba Hills," Taranco said.

On Tuesday, Williams informed Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri of "efforts to restore the situation in south Lebanon to what it was prior to the Israeli breach," a reference to Israel's erecting a watchtower in Kfar Shuba Hills.

Williams, who thanked Berri for his role in calming the situation in the south, expressed his contentment since the UNIFIL relation with Khirbet Silim residents was "back to normal."

On Monday, the UNIFIL commander met with Amal Movement MP Ali Bazzi, Hizbullah MP Hassan Fadlallah and the mayor of Khirbet Silim in the southern town of Tibnin in a bid to maintain relations between parties involved in Resolution 1701.

Graziano said that every UNIFIL troop was "committed to upholding and strengthening" the relationship between the force and southern civilians, adding that all parties present had reiterated their support of Resolution 1701.

Copyright The Daily Star 2009.