A United Nations ship photographed off the coast of Naqoura near the Lebanese-Israeli border. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — The Lebanese Army called on Israel to remove a concrete wall in the disputed area of Ras al-Naqoura, built in 2018 at the entrance of the Ras al-Naqoura tunnel between Lebanon and Israel, according to an army statement issued Friday. Caretaker minister of public works, Hezbollah-affiliated Ali Hamiyeh, hailed the army's position.
The Lebanese demand was made during a tripartite meeting in the presence of Major General Aroldo Lázaro, head of mission and force commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), and representatives from Lebanon and Israel, according to the statement published Thursday on the army's website.
"The Lebanese army confirmed its call that the concrete wall, erected by the Israeli enemy inside Lebanese territory, at the northern entrance of the railway tunnel between Lebanon and occupied Palestine, be removed," reads the text.
Israel's building of this border concrete wall caused tensions between the two countries in 2018, as Lebanon laid claim to the plots where the construction works were taking place. Tensions were eventually appeased by US mediation.
Caretaker Public Works Minister Ali Hamiyeh expressed his approval of the army's call to "destroy" the wall as an occupied tunnel wall in Naqoura," and reiterated previous statements that "the wall will be destroyed, and the tunnel is our land, and those who consider it a challenge so be it." He also underlined that the wall was built on "properties belonging to the public works and transport ministry," inside a railway tunnel.
Contacted by L'Orient Today, an army spokesperson could not detail why Lebanon raised this issue during the tripartite meeting.
During the UNIFIL-led tripartite meeting, the parties discussed how the lack of clarity about the demarcation of the Blue Line, between the markers installed by the UN, is fueling tension between Lebanon and Israel.
“Lack of clarity of the Blue Line between markers contributed to tension,” the UNIFIL head noted, according to a statement published on the UN force's website. “The Blue Line marking project, which started in 2007, provides a guide in approximating the Blue Line trajectory. Clarity on the precise trajectory of the Blue Line is determined through the deployment of UNIFIL assets."
Lebanon and Israel are still in a state of war. After the July war of 2006, UNIFIL sent over 10,000 troops to maintain stability between the two countries, in accordance with the 1701 UN resolution.
