Army hands over Bekaa building to Litani office, previously occupied by Pro-Assad Palestinian groups

The Lebanese Army handed over to the National Litani Office a building on Friday that was occupied by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) and Fateh al-Intifada (a faction that split from Fateh), in the Bekaa, reports our correspondent in the region. This building had been illegally constructed by Palestinian groups on land belonging to the Office, according to its general director Sami Alawieh, contacted by L'Orient-Le Jour.

The PFLP-GC and Fateh al-Intifada were close to the Assad regime, which was overthrown in early December in Syria. At the end of December, after the fall of the Syrian regime, the Lebanese Army regained control of several sites previously held by this group and Fateh al-Intifada in the Bekaa region, notably near the border with Syria.

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The militias had "appropriated these lands during the time of the Syrian occupation of Lebanon," which lasted until 2005, recalls Alawieh. The groups had then illegally constructed "military centers," with the "complicity of Lebanese," adds the official.

The site covers 60,000 square meters according to him. In an effort to reclaim it, Alawieh had filed a complaint in 2018, and the majority of the land could be returned to the Office. Today, "the entire land" has been recovered, he rejoiced.

The logo of the National Litani Office has been hung on the façade of the recovered building. "If the Lebanese security forces and the army do not want the building, we are considering demolishing it to erase this dark memory from our minds," said the head of the Office.

The National Litani Office is a public institution that manages water resources along the Litani River and throughout the Lebanese territory in general. This organization frequently criticizes violations of its properties and has already removed many encroachments set up by Syrian migrants and Lebanese citizens, often citing anti-pollution measures.