Lebanese soldier, left, and UNIFIL peacekeeper in Kfar Shuba, South Lebanon, Aug. 26, 2023. (Credit: Mohammad Yassine/L'Orient Today)
BEIRUT — United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) confirmed on Friday that the Lebanese Army removed cement infrastructure from the southern borders lining Israel on Thursday.
The Israeli Army's Arabic-speaking spokesperson Avichay Adraee announced on Thursday that "Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) monitored an infrastructure made of concrete that crossed the Blue Line towards Israeli territory ... in the town of Shtoula" and that "IDF worked in coordination with UNIFIL forces to remove it." He added that the Lebanese Army removed the structure later on Thursday.
The Blue Line is a frontier mapped by the United Nations that marks where Israeli forces withdrew when their occupation of South Lebanon ended in 2000.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told L'Orient Today on Friday that Israeli officials asked Lebanon through UNIFIL to remove the structure and Lebanon complied.
The Lebanese Army was not immediately available for comment.
During the past two weeks, Lebanon and Israeli forces exchanged smoke bombs twice at the southern borders.
Tensions flared along the frontier this summer, with rockets fired during Israeli violence on Palestinians and face-offs between Hezbollah and Israeli forces.