on Saturday, September 09, 2006, the BloggingBeirut.com team spotted the first Israeli attempt at stealing even more Lebanese land - we noticed that this new fence, as seen in this photo taken on that day, was much closer than what we had witnessed 2 weeks ago (prior to the rebuilding). the difference was so obvious, that the first time we had stopped there, the Israeli Farmer on the other side was within a couple of meters of where our car was parked - so close that we mistook him for a Lebanese Farmer, until we noticed the Oakleys...

Lebanon Claims Israel Encroached its Territory with New Barbed-Wire Barrier

U.N. peacekeepers on Wednesday asked Israel's army to pull down a new barbed-wire barrier that Lebanon said encroached on its territory, a U.N. spokesman said.
Alexander Ivanko, a spokesman for the UNIFIL peacekeeping force, said new wire coils were put up in Lebanese territory between the northern Israeli village of Metulla and Kfar Kila, a town in southern Lebanon.

U.N. forces have asked Israel's army to remove the barrier, Ivanko said.

"We expect them to do so as quickly as possible," he said.

The Israeli army said it was repairing the fence along the route set down in a May 2005 U.N. resolution. The repairs were being made in various places along the border because of the war, the army said.

In a recent letter to the head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in south Lebanon, Prime Minister Fouad Saniora protested the barrier encroachment along the "Blue Line" between the countries, Lebanese army and U.N. officials said.

New barriers were put up in several places, including the Khiam plain and the town of Gadjar, covering an area about 15 meters (yards) deep and a total of 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) wide, the officials said.

The barriers run parallel to existing coils laid out along the Blue Line frontier designated by the United Nations force in 2000, the officials said.

Israeli troops are gradually withdrawing from south Lebanon after 34 days of fighting with Hizbullah starting on July 12. Hundreds of people died and thousands fled their devastated homes. U.N. forces are working to cement a fragile cease-fire.

Under a new U.N. Security Council resolution, Israeli forces are expected to withdraw fully from north of the frontier. At their peak, an estimated 30,000 Israeli troops were in Lebanon. --AP Beirut, 13 Sep 06, 15:06

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