A shepherd (right) shepherds his cattle flock on the Lebanese side of the Lebanese-Israeli border in the southern village of Wazzani with border village Ghajar in the background, Lebanon, July 11, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)
BEIRUT – Lebanese caretaker Defense Minister Maurice Slim on Tuesday called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its occupation of the northern part of Ghajar village in southern Lebanon, the National News Agency reported.
Reaffirming the village is "inside Lebanese territory," Slim urged the international community to work to remove the aggression that threatens Lebanon's border stability.
Slim's remarks came during his meeting with Brazilian Ambassador to Lebanon Tarcisio Costa in the capital Beirut on military cooperation.
Costa, for his part, reassured Slim that "Brazil as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council will work to achieve consensus on the decision to extend the mandate of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, with full respect for Lebanese sovereignty."
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Israel was required to withdraw from the northern half of Ghajar as per the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah, an Iran-backed militant group in Lebanon, although this has not yet occurred.
Earlier this month, Israel erected a barbed wire fence and a cement wall surrounding the border-straddling village of Ghajar, which was condemned by Lebanon as a violation of its sovereignty.
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Apart from occasional tensions in recent months, the Lebanon-Israel border has largely remained quiet.