Image Credit: BBSNews.
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) 2006-08-16
UNIFIL via BBSNews 2006-08-16 -- Naqoura, Lebanon. UNIFIL continued intensive patrolling during the night and this morning throughout its area of operation to assess the situation on the ground and to monitor the cessation of hostilities. UNIFIL has also resumed air patrols over the area along the Blue Line.
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Area map showing Israel, Lebanon and surrounding countries.
Image Credit: BBSNews. |
The cessation of hostilities was generally maintained in the past 24 hours, with three incidents reported.
An exchange of fire took place between the IDF and Hezbollah in the area of Haddathah in the central sector yesterday afternoon. UNIFIL patrols, which were on the spot shortly after, observed four dead bodies of Hezbollah members which were later taken away in an ambulance.
In another incident last night, an IDF tank positioned on the Israeli side fired one round across the Blue Line into Lebanese territory towards the village of Markaba in the central sector. There was no response from the other side and the situation in the area remains calm.
Yesterday afternoon, an Israeli aircraft violated Lebanese airspace in the eastern sector.
The IDF has maintained their presence inside Lebanese territory in several areas. There were no attempts to occupy any additional territory. The IDF withdrew a number of tanks and armored bulldozers from Lebanese territory in the past 24 hours.
UNIFIL continued contacts with both the Lebanese Army and the Israeli Army with a view to facilitating an early withdrawal of the Israeli Army and the deployment of the Lebanese Armed Forces in the south.
UNIFIL Force Commander met with the senior representatives of the Lebanese Army and the Israeli Army this morning inside the UNIFIL position at the border crossing at Ras Naqoura, to discuss and coordinate the process of the Israeli withdrawal and subsequent deployment of the Lebanese Army in specific areas in the south.
UNIFIL made additional assessments of the damage to the civilian infrastructure in its area of operation. In the village of Ghanduriyah 80% of the civilian houses have been destroyed, 60% in the village of Zibqin, 50% in Jabal al Butm and Bayyadah, 30% in Bayt Leif, and 25% in Kafra. Two unexploded cluster bombs were observed in the village of Hinniyah and one unexploded aerial bomb in Jabal al Butm.
UNIFIL de-mining team from the Chinese contingent continued operations to clear unexploded ordnance from the area. UNIFIL has been providing medical assistance and water to a number of local villages in its area of operations, and distributed food, provided by the French government, to the villages of Hinniyah, Zibqin, Bint Jubayl, Kafra and Bayt Leif.
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was created in 1978 as an interim force to observe the Israeli withdrawal in Lebanon. On March 11th, 1978 Palestiniain Liberation Organizations militants claimed responsibility for an attack that killed and wounded many Israelis. As a result, Israel invaded southern Lebanon proceeding to occupy much of the south of the country.According to a UNIFIL document and showing that the UN Security Council acted with dispatch in the matter during 1978: "On 19 March, the Council adopted resolutions 425 (1978) and 426 (1978), in which it called upon Israel immediately to cease its military action and withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory. It also decided on the immediate establishment of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The first UNIFIL troops arrived in the area on 23 March 1978."
Israel largely withdrew from Lebanon in 2000 but repeated violations by both sides documented by UNIFIL, especially during 2005 and early 2006 led to increased tensions. This coupled with the Israeli incursion into Gaza devolved into a fierce confrontation between militants and Israeli forces in July 2006.
These dispatches from UNIFIL offer an impartial glimpse into what is happening on the ground in Lebanon.
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