UN peacekeepers: Israeli troops still in Lebanon

[Poll_Blind]

From CNN:

JERUSALEM (CNN) -- United Nations peacekeepers Sunday denied Israel's assertion that it had completely withdrawn all of its soldiers from southern Lebanon.

UNIFIL spokesman Alexander Ivanko told CNN Israeli troops still control the border village of Ghajar.

Israeli military sources had previously said the final phase of withdrawal took place on Sunday, when the last Israeli soldier withdrew.

When asked about the UNIFIL report, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed its forces are still operating near Ghajar and will continue to do so "until IDF, UNIFIL and the Lebanese army come to an agreement regarding the security arrangements in the area"

--snip--

PB

[NOLADEM]

1. I'm shocked...Israel acting against its word in the region?

NO way! (valley girl inflection)

Israel is largely responsible for the position in which it finds itself. If they could play nicer with their neighbors and allow their neighboring countries' economies to grow a little, the moderates in each country would have more voice.

They prefer the extremists being the loudest because it justifies their agression and land grab.

They may miscalculate one day. America may not always be in a position to come to their rescue. I wish they would be more reasonable.

[Behind the Aegis]

2. Your post shows how little you know of the actual situation.

[NOLADEM]

3. As the depth of your explanation is revealing of yours

I know what is going on, and from reading your past posts, I know you have an opinion that favors the Israelis, so let's just agree to disagree.

Both sides in this disgust me on any given day, for what it is worth.

[Behind the Aegis]

4. Why use depth?

Most of what I have seen in your posts are your own opinion and rarely substantive, nothing more. As for, "Both sides in this disgust me on any given day, for what it is worth." I guess we will have to 'just agree to disagree' because I don't know I have ever seen a post from you that condemned any group other than Israel. Perhaps you have, but your alliance is as clear as mine.

[Phx_Dem]

8. How do you figure that Israel is responsible for others nations

economies?

[bemildred]

5. Talks over IDF's final withdrawal from Lebanon to resume next week: report

Talks over Israel Defense Forces ' (IDF) final withdrawal from the split Lebanese town of Ghajar are to resume next week, the Jerusalem Post reported on Friday.

The report said the IDF will hold talks with UNIFIL, the UN peacekeepers, next week, and IDF officials were optimistic on a solution that will be found to remove Israel's final military presence from southern Lebanon.

Israel's 34-day-long conflict with the Lebanese Hezbollah militia ended in mid-August under UN Resolution 1701 which called on the IDF to fully withdraw from Lebanon.

Nearly two weeks after the IDF withdrew almost all its forces from southern Lebanon, the implementation of Resolution 1701 has been held up by an Israeli refusal to withdraw troops from the northern part of Ghajar, a town split down the middle by the Blue Line, the international border between Israel and Lebanon.

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200610/13/eng20061013_311613.html

[Tom Joad]

6. What Israel "says" and what Israel does are worlds apart. Never

has Israel kept its word. Or at least damn near never.

[breakaleg]

7. This shouldn't surprise anyone. Israel does what it wants with little

regard for those around them, the UN especially.

[bemildred]

9. UNIFIL sees final Israel pullout from Lebanon soon

The acting chief of United Nations peacekeepers in Lebanon said after meeting senior Lebanese and Israeli army officers on Tuesday that he expected Israel to complete its withdrawal from its neighbor soon.

"I think we have more or less closed all the gaps except for a few minor technical issues that should be finalized very soon and then I expect the (Israeli army) to complete their withdrawal from south Lebanon." (Reuters)

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3316146,00.html

[bemildred]

10. UNIFIL: Administrative snags delaying IDF pullout from Ghajar

The deputy commander of UN peacekeepers in Lebanon said Thursday that administrative issues were delaying the IDF withdrawal from Ghajar.

"The meeting was productive and the main focus was to finalize arrangements for Ghajar after the IDF withdrawal," Brigadier General L. P. Nehra said in after meeting senior Lebanese and Israel Defense Forces officers on the border.

Israel completed its withdrawal from southern Lebanon at the start of October, but IDF troops remain in the divided border village.

---

Some 10,000 Lebanese soldiers have deployed across south Lebanon. UNIFIL, in place since 1978, has boosted its numbers from around 2,000 before the war to some 7,500 since.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/779896.html

[bemildred]

11. U.N. peacekeepers say Israeli army to begin withdrawing from dispute border village

BEIRUT, Lebanon: Israeli troops are to begin withdrawing Tuesday from the Lebanese part of the divided border village of Ghajar, the U.N. peacekeeping force said.

When completed, the Israeli troop withdrawal from Ghajar would put Israeli forces behind the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line bordering the two countries for the first time since the summer war between the Jewish state and Hezbollah guerrillas.

Israeli forces withdrew from other areas they occupied during the war in early October but remained in Ghajar, a village that is half in Israel and half in Lebanon.

Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini made the announcement after a meeting with Lebanese and Israeli officers at the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2006/11/07/africa/ME_GEN_Lebanon_Israel.php

[Scurrilous]

12. France: We nearly fired at IAF aircraft

French defense minister says country's UN troops were 'two seconds' away recently from firing at Israeli aircraft diving towards their position in southern Lebanon. 'A catastrophe was avoided thanks to the judiciousness of our troops,' she adds

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3325919,00.html

<snip>

"French United Nations troops were "two seconds" away recently from firing at Israeli aircraft diving towards their position in southern Lebanon , Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said in parliament.

"Two seconds later there would have been a shot against the aircraft which were directly menacing our forces," Alliot-Marie said.

"A catastrophe was avoided thanks to the judiciousness of our troops," she added.

The incident occurred on October 31, the defense ministry told AFP, without giving the exact location.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said that a caution would be given to the Israeli authorities, saying that "Israeli flights over southern Lebanon are a source of serious concern".

[bemildred]

13. Witnesses say Israel still has troops in and around Ghajar

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) expects to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Lebanese part of Ghajar and other border territories today, a UN spokesman said on Wednesday.

"UNIFIL is carrying out an investigative patrol in order to confirm the Israeli withdrawal from the area around Ghajar," UNIFIL spokesperson Milos Strugar told The Daily Star. "UNIFIL will verify the withdrawal tomorrow with the handover of the area to the Lebanese Army.

"The Israelis are still present inside Lebanese territory in Ghajar and the immediate vicinity of a few hundred meters. Hopefully, soon we will have an agreement over this."

In Israel, an Israeli military official confirmed on Tuesday that "at 1500 hours (1300 GMT) we withdrew forces from open areas north of the village of Ghajar. But at the moment, we are not changing our deployment inside the village itself."

http://www.terra.net.lb/wp/Articles/DesktopArticle.aspx?ArticleID=313926