The cabinet on Wednesday is expected to approve a plan whereby Israel will unilaterally withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar, placing that part of the village in Lebanese hands as mandated by the United Nations, Army Radio reported.
According to the proposed layout, the IDF will secure the Israel-Lebanon border south of Ghajar and UNIFIL have the responsibility of preventing the entry of infiltrators, terrorists and criminals in the northern part of the village.
RELATED:Lieberman: We should leave Ghajar unilaterallyIsrael holds first talks on Ghajar with new UNIFIL headThe cabinet is expected to instruct the IDF to accelerate discussions with
UNIFIL with the aim of formulating security arrangements within the
next month.
The village sits in area where the boundaries between Israel, Syria and Lebanon are in dispute.
Israel captured the village of some 2,000 people from Syria in 1967. In
2000, after Israel withdrew its forces from southern Lebanon, UN
surveyors placed the border in the middle of the village, leaving Israel
in control of the southern half. The IDF reoccupied the northern half
in the 2006 war. After the fighting, Israel pledged to withdraw from
that section, but has yet to do so.
Ghajar’s residents are members of Islam’s Alawite sect, whose followers
include many members of Syria’s ruling elite. Most of the villagers have
said they want the village to remain united, regardless of who controls
it.
Tovah Lazaroff contributed to this report.