UN vehicles near the "Blue Line" — a demarcation line drawn by the UN to mark Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000 — near Lebanese southern village of Kafr Shuba on June 9, 2023. (Credit: Mahmoud Zayyat/AFP)
BEIRUT — The Israeli army tear-gassed half a dozen young men Sunday near Lebanon's southern border, Kafr Shuba’s municipality head Qassem Ghader told L’Orient Today’s correspondent in the south. Ghader added that the incident took place after the men neared an area in which Israel was conducting excavation work last week.
Ghader described the incident as short-lived, with the men retreating after the tear gas was deployed.
This incident comes two days after Israeli soldiers fired tear gas toward Lebanese protesters in Kafr Shuba during a demonstration in solidarity with farmer Ismail Nasser, who was seen Wednesday defending his land from an Israeli bulldozer.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was “heavily deployed” to restore calm, and Lebanese military personnel were also heavily deployed at the scene.
UNIFIL was created in 1978 as a buffer between Lebanon and Israel, though tensions are common along the border.
In March, fears rose of potential military tension amid apparent Israeli construction work along the border.
Reporting contributed by Muntasser Abdallah