A UNIFIL convoy near the border town of Naqoura, in southern Lebanon. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
BEIRUT — After tensions increased on the Lebanese Israeli border Wednesday, the spokesman for the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), Andrea Tenenti, told L'Orient-Le Jour Friday that "the situation is calm" along the Blue Line in South Lebanon, and that UNIFIL has asked Israel to stop excavating in areas considered "sensitive."
Israeli bulldozers crossed the Blue Line Wednesday, clearing the area near the "technical fence" at the Israeli town of Metula, not far from Marjayoun, Lebanon.
"There is a problem when the Israeli army carries out work along the technical fence, because Lebanese authorities consider some areas sensitive, as they are not yet marked as part of the Blue Line," Tenenti told L'Orient-Le Jour. "We have asked Israel to stop work in these areas to avoid fueling tensions. The peacekeepers are watching over the area," he added, noting that "this work is of a technical nature."
Tenenti said in a statement Thursday evening that UNIFIL is "present on the ground where work is being carried out [by Israel] to see if there are violations of the Blue Line and to ease tensions or misunderstandings. "We are in constant contact" with Lebanon and Israel, he added.
While Israeli ground violations are relatively rare, the Zionist state violates Lebanese airspace on an almost daily basis.
The Blue Line is a line drawn in June 2000 by the UN after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon on May, 25, 2000 ending the occupation that began in 1982.