Lebanon-Israel border tense after exchange of rocket fire

Saeed Dhaher
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-09-17

Two women stand near an Indonesian UN peacekeeping armoured personnel carrier close to the Israeli border on Sept. 12. UN peacekeepers were monitoring the border, a day after rockets launched from southern Lebanon slammed into Galilee. A UN spokeswoman, however, characterised the situation as “calm.” (Mahmoud Zayat/AFP/Getty Images)

Tensions along the Lebanese-Israeli border were high on Sept. 11 and Sept. 12 after two 122mm Grad rockets were fired from Sahel Qlaileh in the district of Tyre towards Nahariya in northern Israel. The Israeli army responded by firing a dozen 155mm artillery shells at the source of the rocket fire, damaging a banana plantation. No-one was reported injured.

The Lebanese army, together with UNIFIL forces, immediately sent out inspection patrols to investigate the incidents, and Israeli forces went into a state of alert.

UNIFIL spokeswoman Yasmina Bouzian urged both sides to “exercise self-control, cease all military operations and take care to avoid any steps that might lead to an escalation of the incident.” Meanwhile, International Emergency Forces spokesman Milos Strugar stated that the incidents constitute a “serious, clear and disgraceful breach of Resolution 1701, regardless of the source of the rockets.”

Sahel Qlaileh lies to the south of the Litani River, 15 km from the border with Israel, in the area where weapons are banned under UN Security Council Resolution 1701. The area is controlled by Hezbollah, but is also close to the Rashidiya Palestinian refugee camp.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman set in motion measures to apprehend the perpetrators. Government leader Fouad Siniora described the firing of the rockets and the Israelis’ response as “reprehensible and unacceptable.” He expressed his fear that the incident would “provoke tension and drag Lebanon into a cycle of aggravated crisis, which the state is working to avoid.”

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea called the incident “an indication of the presence of factions that do not want to see a government formed in Lebanon.”

Sources: Al-Balad/ Now Lebanon/ Reuters

Bookmarking

Please comment on this article so that we can improve the experience of viewing this website.