UNIFIL: Lebanon, Israel hold daily talks about border dispute/قوات اليونيفل في جنوب لبنان: اسرائيل ولبنان يجريان محادثات يومية حول النزاع الحدودي بينهما
قوات اليونيفل في جنوب لبنان: اسرائيل ولبنان يجريان محادثات يومية حول النزاع الحدودي بينهما
UNIFIL: Lebanon, Israel hold daily talks about border dispute
Ynetnews/Reuters/March 08/18
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon says there is ‘open dialogue’ and ‘full engagement’ from all sides over recent land and naval border disputes; ‘there is no appetite for instability or for war,’ says UNIFIL spokesman.
Lebanon and Israel have been holding talks nearly every day over a border dispute that has raised tensions between the two enemy states, according to the UN peacekeeping force on the frontier that is mediating their discussions.
“There is a full engagement from all the sides and there have been meetings almost on a daily basis. The dialogue is open. No one has ever walked out from these meetings,” said Andrea Tenenti, spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).
Tensions have spiked recently over an Israeli border wall, Lebanese offshore energy exploration, and the growing arsenal of Lebanon’s Iran-backed Hezbollah group, which Israel sees as the biggest threat on its frontier. Lebanon, Israel and UNIFIL were already holding three-way talks every few weeks in a building on the border near the peacekeepers’ base at Naqoura in southern Lebanon. They are now being held more often, Tenenti said, along with indirect talks conducted through UNIFIL.Israel is building a border wall near the Blue Line, as the frontier demarcation between the two countries in lieu of a formal border agreement is known.
Lebanon has described the wall as an “aggression,” saying it intrudes into Lebanese territory. Israel says the wall will be entirely on its side of the Blue Line and in Israeli territory. At the same time, Lebanon has begun oil and gas exploration in a block that includes a small area of sea along the maritime frontier that is claimed by Israel. “There is a will to keep this dialogue open … I think now, beside the heightened rhetoric, the reality on the ground is different and there is no appetite for instability or for war,” Tenenti said.
Blue Line
Reuters footage from a recent trip to the border area showed construction work in areas along the Blue Line, including cranes erecting concrete blocks and bulldozers working at a fence. Israel occupied southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000 and in 2006 it waged a month-long war against Hezbollah there. Israel says the Shi’ite Muslim group has grown stronger due to its role in the Syrian civil war, and has attacked it there.
“The last 12 years have seen the quietest period the south of Lebanon has witnessed in over 30 years,” Tenenti said. “But it is important to keep in mind that things along the Blue Line are in general very sensitive. Anything could, if it is not addressed immediately, potentially spark into something bigger and increase tension.”
Report: Hezbollah in Lebanon fears Israeli attack, declares state of emergency حزب الله يتخوف من هجوم اسرائيلي ويعلن حالة الطوارئ
Jerusalem Post/March 08/18 /Hezbollah in Lebanon has declared a state of emergency for fear of an Israeli attack approved by the United States. “Hezbollah declared its ranks in readiness for the past two days, for fear of Israeli aggression on Lebanon,” the Rai Al-Youm newspaper published in London reported Thursday. “High alert was declared in light of information received that the Israeli army is conducting secret military maneuvers jointly with the United States, which are currently taking place in the country and in the Mediterranean,” journalist Kamal Halaf, who is close with Hezbollah, said. Citing sources in Hezbollah, Halaf added that US military leaders gave the IDF a green light to attack Hezbollah in Lebanon. The only thing preventing Israel from launching a surprise attack is fear of retalition from the Iranian-backed group, the sources said. Also according to the Hezbollah sources, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu persuaded the Americans to make a “quick surprise attack” on Lebanese soil, but there is concern that such an attack could lead to all-out war in the region, since Hezbollah’s response would be “tough and very strong,” Halaf wrote.
Former Syrian General, Zuhair al-Saqit : Hezbollah Is In Possession Of Chemical Weapons جنرال سوري سابق يدعي أن لدى حزب الله أسلحة كيماوية
Jerusalem Post/March 08/18 /Iran is building and testing short- to medium-range missiles armed with chemical warheads in Syria, former Syrian general Zuhair al-Saqit told [The Jerusalem Post’s sister publication] Maariv. Al-Saqit, who heads the Center for the Detection and Monitoring of the Use of Chemical Weapons in Belgium, also said that Iran’s Lebanon-based proxy Hezbollah is in possession of chemical weapons, mostly handed to it by the Assad regime in order to hide their existence from international monitors.
In an interview in Paris, al-Saqit said that a large part of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles, which were hidden from international inspection bodies, were transferred to Hezbollah. Iran continues to be a major supplier of chemical weapons to the regime of President Bashar Assad and continues to develop chemical weapons in Syrian territory, he said. Iranian scientists, technicians and military personnel are developing missiles with chemical warheads ranging from five to 35 kilometers that can be carried in vehicles or by small army units within Syria — or across the border, he said. General al-Saqit came to Paris to warn European governments that, contrary to popular opinion, the problem of chemical weapons is not yet off the table. “The Syrian army and the militias supporting it carry out daily attacks on the population, which uses chlorine gas. Only yesterday there was such an attack,” he said. Al-Saqit deserted the Syrian army in 2013 and left the country after being responsible for the scientific development of chemical warfare weapons during the civil war. He refused to use chemical weapons against civilians and replaced chemical munitions with harmless materials. The center he heads today receives and records testimonies from the field and examines them. According to him, contrary to the regime’s official stance, the videos from Syria showing victims of chemical attacks are not fabricated.On the issue of Syrian cooperation with North Korea, al-Saqit confirmed that North Korea had indeed supplied Syria with chemical weapons and assisted in their installation and operation against civilians. He also said that in his capacity as senior officer in the Syrian army, he accompanied North Korean officers who came to advise on chemical weapons for the various units. Translated by Eric Sumner.
