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| Syria-Lebanon-Iran |
| Hezbollah: Ghajar, Shaba Farms will soon be freed |
| 2008-10-04 |
| Hezbollah has warned that it will "soon liberate" the contentious Shaba Farms and the divided village of Ghajar, Lebanon's Daily Star reported on Friday. Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, Hezbollah's leader in southern Lebanon, told supporters in the border village of Abbasieh that diplomacy over the areas had failed and the only way to regain control of the land was to use force, according to the report. "Betting on liberating land via diplomacy and politics is a sterile bet," the report quoted Qaouk as saying. "The only guaranteed way to recover the remaining occupied land is the resistance and nothing else." Qaouk added that Israel understands only the language of force, adding that it was Hezbollah's national duty to fulfill the achievements it had begun with the Israel Defense Forces' withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, according to the report. "The resistance's strategy is Lebanon's main source of power, enabling it to recover the remaining occupied lands," the report quoted Qaouk as saying. "We, as Lebanese, are here to confirm that we cling to freeing every grain of our soil. We will not abandon the great national cause, which is the continuation of the liberation of our land," Qaouk added. Israel told the United States on Sunday it was prepared to withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar on the Lebanese border, a change in its policy for the past year and a half of not wanting to discuss the issue. A government source in Jerusalem said the decision was made after the Lebanese government delivered written assurances that UNIFIL would be given security and civilian control over the northern part of the village, which is in Lebanese territory. "The Americans have been asking us for a long time to move ahead on the Lebanon issue and after receiving the letter, it was decided to show a more positive stance," the source also said, referring to the written assurances by Lebanon. The Israel Defense Forces Planning Branch and the Northern Command are now at work on the details of the withdrawal from the northern part of Ghajar. Ghajar, located between the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights, was annexed to Israel in 1981 together with the Golan Heights, and its inhabitants received Israeli citizenship. After the IDF's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, the UN determined that the border between Israel and Syria crossed the village, and that Israel, which holds the Golan Heights, could operate only in the southern part of the village. However, according to the UN, the IDF frequently operates in the northern part of the village, beyond the international border. In recent years the village has become a center for smuggling and infiltration of criminal elements from Lebanon to Israel, along with Hezbollah agents. According to Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War, Israel was to have withdrawn its forces from the northern part of Ghajar. In March 2007, the security cabinet approved a deal whereby the IDF would cease its operations in the northern part of the village, giving the UN and Lebanese army forces responsibility for security and leaving civilian affairs in Israel's hands. However, Beirut did not implement the agreement, among other things because of its political crisis. Israel has since refused to discuss the matter and conditioned agreement on a written pledge by the Lebanese government to a new arrangement. UNIFIL had transmitted a number of drafts to Israel, which it has rejected. About two weeks ago Israel gave an official letter to UNIFIL commander General Claudio Graziano, stating that it accepts UN security and civilian control over the northern part of the village. Meanwhile, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah last week told a crowd of supporters in a televised address that Jerusalem and Palestine would soon be returned to their rightful owners. "I think that if you consider current developments," Nasrallah told thousands of Shiite Hezbollah backers at a rally in Beirut, "the return of Jerusalem and Palestine is not far off, and could even happen in the near future." Nasrallah reiterated that backing the resistance [Hezbollah] was essential because "the resistance is the only way to liberate Palestine and occupied lands by Israel." |
| Posted by:Fred |