Lebanon: Israel is violating 1701

In document to UN, Lebanon claims 290 fly-overs; IDF: Flights meant to prevent weapons smuggling.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
IAF jet 298 88 (photo credit: AP)
IAF jet 298 88
(photo credit: AP)
Lebanon is accusing Israel of repeatedly violating the terms of UN resolution 1701 - the cease-fire agreement put in place following last summer's Second Lebanon War. In a document sent to the UN, the Lebanese government claims that in the past four months Israel's air force has flown more than 290 fly-overs across the Lebanese border, while IDF ground forces have committed 52 violations on land. "Hizbullah's weapons kill, the flights don't kill anyone," an IDF official told Army Radio. In addition, Lebanon says that over one million cluster bombs fired by Israel during the war are still unexploded and jeopardize human life. According to the document, the Lebanese government is demanding that Israel disclose - with maps - which areas where specifically targeted with cluster bombs. Finally, Israel was accused of not making a full withdrawal from the northern section of the village of Ghajar. In June, The Jerusalem Post reported that the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) were supposed to arrange security in the northern side of the village - which was to allow for the final withdrawal of IDF troops from the village. According to senior defense officials, it was Lebanon's refusal to sign an agreement brokered by UNIFIL that delayed the final withdrawal of IDF troops, saying that days before the deal was supposed to be signed the LAF pulled out of the agreement. Since the cease-fire that ended last summer's war went into effect, UNIFIL and the Lebanese government have repeatedly called for an Israeli withdrawal, claiming that the IDF presence in the Alawite Muslim village was a severe violation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701. Some 400 families, all holders of Israeli blue identity cards, live in the northern section of the village. Israel admitted Thursday to the fly-over violations, but said their purpose was to prevent the smuggling of weapons to Hizbullah along the Syrian border - also a violation of 1701.