Israeli soldiers along the border between Israel and Lebanon, May 18, 2021. (Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP)
BEIRUT — Israeli forces fired five tear gas canisters at people gathered at the Lebanese border to celebrate Liberation Day on Wednesday, the Lebanese state-run National News Agency reported.
Here's what we know:
• The people targeted had gathered in the Lebanese town of Adaisseh, located in the Marjayoun district on the border with Israel.
• On May 24, 2000, the Israeli army withdrew from the part of southern Lebanon that it had occupied, but Lebanon says it still needs to withdraw from several border areas, including the Shebaa farms, located on the western slopes of Mount Hermon, captured by Israel from Syria in June 1967, as well as the heights of Kfar Shuba and the northern part of the village of Ghajar, in order for the liberation to be complete.
• Israel and Hezbollah clashed in July 2006. The 33-day conflict left 1,200 Lebanese killed, most of them civilians. The Israelis had 160 dead, mostly soldiers. Since then, several incidents and bouts of tension have taken place between the two countries, sometimes raising fears of a new open conflict.