Israel has decided to withdraw from the north part of Lebanese
border village of Ghajar and hand it over to the UN peacekeeping
force in southern Lebanon, Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported
on Sunday.
Straddling the Israeli-Lebanese border, north part of Ghajar
locates on the Lebanese side but was occupied by Israel with an aim
of preventing arms smuggling and infiltrations.
Under the UN mediation, Israeli Security Cabinet has finally agreed
to withdraw from the north part of Ghajar.
It was the first kind of such agreement reached under UN
mediation in Lebanon without Hezbollah's intervention, said the
report.
Meanwhile, an Israel Defense Forces spokesman also confirmed to
Xinhua that the withdrawal proposal has been approved by the
cabinet, but said that the withdrawal has not started so far.
Ghajar's residents, including those living the Lebanese part,
hold Israeli ID cards and enjoy Israeli infrastructure and state
service, which prevented Israel and Lebanon from reaching an
agreement on the matter which would have split the village in
two.
However, Israel seeks to resolve the Ghajar issue after this
summer's 34-day Israel-Hezbollah conflict.
(Xinhua News Agency December 4, 2006)
