Suleiman Asks Bassil to File Complaint over 'Israeli Violations' and UNIFIL to Open Probe
Outgoing President Michel Suleiman condemned on Monday a new Israeli breach along Lebanon's southern border, considering it violates United Nations Security Council resolution 1701.
He called on the international community to take the necessary decision to prevent the Jewish state from further violating the Lebanese sovereignty and to press it to end its aggression.
Suleiman also called on Foreign Minister Jebran Bassil to file a complaint against Israel to the U.N. Security Council in order to safeguard Lebanon's sovereignty and maintain stability and security in the South.
The National News Agency also reported that “Israeli forces continued digging in al-Labbouneh using bulldozers as soldiers were on high alert..”
UNIFIL peacekeepers also deployed along the border to monitor the Israeli forces.
An Israeli army infantry force crossed on Sunday the Blue Line in the al-Labbouneh border area and uprooted trees thus exposing a Lebanese army checkpoint.
The unit also lifted a cement block that belongs to the Lebanese army.
The NNA later said that the Israeli navy violated Lebanese territorial waters off Ras al-Naqoura.
It said that the gunboats pushed a line of buoys 20 meters into Lebanese territorial waters.
But later on Monday evening, the UNIFIL announced that it was informed on Sunday morning of Israeli plans to carry out maintenance work along the technical fence to the south of the Blue Line.
These information were conveyed to the Lebanese Armed Forces, and UNIFIL troops deployed in the region to monitor the Israeli activities, the peacekeeping force said in a released statement.
“Commander Maj.-Gen. Paolo Serra also decided to open a probe to investigate Sunday's developments,” the statement added.
The UNIFIL assured that calm is prevailing in border regions along the Blue Line, and reiterated that the troops' activities are carried in coordination with the LAF.
Lebanon's southern border has continuously witnessed violations carried out by Israel.
Israel routinely sends F-16 fighter planes over Lebanon, in violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. The Israeli planes have often broken the sound barrier over Beirut and other places as a show of strength, most recently after the drone incident.
H.K.
M.T.
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