UNIFIL completes construction of Ghajar border fence

by **Admin** Tue Apr 15, 2008 4:27 am

Engineers
with the Spanish contingent of the United Nations Interim Force in
Lebanon (UNIFIL), with logistical support from their Polish
counterparts, completed the construction of a border fence in the
border village of Ghajar in tandem with Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF)
soldiers on Sunday.

UNIFIL
and LAF soldiers laid the fence to prevent any breaches of the Blue
Line, which separates Lebanon and Israel, two states that are legally
in a state of war. The Blue Line division places one-third of Ghajar in
Lebanese territory and the other two-thirds on the Israeli side of the
border, contributing to a tenuous situation in and around the border
village. The 325-meter-long border fence, which stretches out near the
Wazzani River across from a similar 400-meter Israeli fence, took three
days to complete.

The
construction of the new barrier comes on the heels of nationwide
military and civilian exercises in Israel and amid renewed global
attention regarding the Lebanon-Israel border areas.

According
to UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmine Bouziane, the decision to construct the
barrier came during an April 2 meeting between UNIFIL commander Major
General Claudio Graziano and Lebanese and Israeli army officials. A
reported rise in drug trafficking during the past few months, as well
as more political and security related concerns, contributed to the
decision to erect the fence.

There
have been a few incidents along the border since the end of the 2006
summer war, including the killing of an alleged Lebanese drug
trafficker and the wounding of another by Israeli soldiers in February.

The
Lebanon-Israel border was initially delineated in the Lebanese-Israeli
General Armistice Agreement of 1949, which reaffirmed the border drawn
between Lebanon and Palestine by British and French mandatory
authorities in 1923.

Israel
occupied parts of South Lebanon in 1978, expanding its so-called
"security zone" after a major invasion in 1982 and remaining until
withdrawing from most of the region in 2000. The UN-brokered cease-fire
that ended the month-long 2006 war also beefed up the UNIFIL presence
that continues to monitor the Israel-Lebanon border.