Forces of Change MPs Melhem Khalaf, Najat Aoun, Yassin Yassin, Elias Jaradi and Firas Hamdan during a visit on the outskirts of Ghajar, a disputed village on the border between Lebanon and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, on July 9, 2023. (Credit: @najat_saliba/Twitter)
BEIRUT— Five Forces of Change MPs on Sunday visited the outskirts of Ghajar, a disputed village on the border between Lebanon and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights that Israeli forces cut off from Lebanon last weekend via a new border fence, the state-run National News Agency reported.
The Israeli army constructed the fence to the north of the village, effectively severing it from Lebanese territory.
"We stand here on the outskirts of the besieged village of Ghajar, on the Lebanese-Syrian border, to tell the whole world openly that the Israeli enemy's gnawing of the northern part of the town of Ghajar is an extremely dangerous aggression against Lebanon," MPs Melhem Khalaf, Najat Aoun, Yassin Yassin, Elias Jaradi and Firas Hamdan said in a written statement issued Sunday.
They called the annexation "a persistent assault on Lebanese sovereignty and a flagrant violation of all international covenants and resolutions, which cannot be tolerated and cannot be ignored."
"The concept of sovereignty is indivisible, and we are all responsible for all the lands, and there is no bargaining or abandoning any inch of the land and waters of our homeland, nor any sovereign wealth that belongs to all the Lebanese people," they added.
Ghajar, which is divided by the UN Blue Line, (the de-facto border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied portion of the Syrian Golan Heights) was occupied by Israel in the 2006 July war.
According to several experts, authority over the village is disputed between Lebanon, Syria and Israel.
Some 2,000 people live in Ghajar. Most of the villagers still consider themselves Syrian Alawites, the minority sect of which Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is a member. Many have taken Israeli citizenship during the long years of occupation and most residents have rejected becoming part of Lebanon.
The MPs on Sunday denounced the government's "timid, indolent and inattentive position in the face of this dangerous event," calling on it "once again to exhaust all pressure means, without any delay, to lift this usurping and blatant aggression immediately."
The Forces of Change MPs also acknowledged the "heroic role of the Lebanese army in confronting the Zionist enemy and its ambitions."
In recent weeks, tensions have escalated along the border between Lebanon and Israel. The latest development occurred Thursday, with the exchange of fire between both sides. Following the launch of at least one unclaimed mortar round from Lebanon toward Israeli-held territory, the Israeli army shelled the area around the nearby villages of Kfar Shuba and Mazraat Halta with around 15 rockets. No injuries were reported.
On Wednesday, in the span of just two hours, the Israeli army violated Lebanese territory several times. Israeli bulldozers crossed the technical fence at the towns of Mays al-Jabal and Markaba and Israeli soldiers fired bullets into the air to scare off Lebanese bystanders who tried to confront them.