Lebanese villagers reclaim land formerly occupied by Israel

[yankeedoodle]

Lebanese villagers reclaim land formerly occupied by Israel       
The digging carried out by residents of Kfar Shuba, under directives from the village municipality, took place with support from the Lebanese army
https://new.thecradle.co/articles/lebanese-villagers-reclaim-land-formerly-occupied-by-israel

Lebanese residents in the southern border village of Kfar Shuba, under directives from the town's municipality, began digging operations on 20 July in order to establish a dirt road along the UN-recognized Blue Line, which separates Lebanon from Israel.

The Lebanese bulldozing work took place along the Blue Line, facing cement blocks erected earlier this week by Israeli forces. Lebanese army troops then reinforced their positions in the area where the digging was taking place.

Earlier in the day, as the digging was taking place, the Lebanese army and a number of journalists approached the new Israeli cement structure on the border, which was erected on Tuesday, 18 January. This prompted Israeli troops to target the site with smoke bombs.

Once the digging was over, Al-Manar correspondent Ali Shoeib was quoted as saying: "The bulldozer has finished excavating the road, and cars are now crossing for the first time since 1978, the date of the occupation."

Shoeib was referencing Israel's initial occupation of Lebanon in 1978, when Israeli troops entered the country to establish a buffer zone on the border, before launching  its full-scale invasion in 1982.

"All the enemy did was deploy tanks and troops," Shoeib added.

"The zones in which the bulldozing took place have not seen Lebanese people set foot there since the 1970s," Al-Mayadeen wrote.

"We will bulldoze a new path near the occupation's barricades to facilitate the transportation of civilians to the Baathiel pond," the news outlet quoted Kfar Shuba's mayor, Qassem al-Kadiri, as saying while the digging was happening.

Baathiel Pond is an artificial body of water used by the Lebanese farmers of Kfar Shuba for agriculture.

In 2007, access to the pond was restricted following Israel's erection of a barbwire fence.

Generally, the area in which the bulldozing happened is internationally recognized Lebanese territory, which Israel withdrew from following the liberation of southern Lebanon in 2000. Since then, Israeli troops maintained a close presence in the area, and no Lebanese citizens have been able to enter until now.

"The bulldozing is taking place on land that we have not been to in decades. What is happening today is of great importance, and it is time for us to be back on our soil. It is surprising how some say this is not Lebanese territory," Kadiri said.

Lebanese citizens told Al-Mayadeen that they were fully exercising their rights by establishing the dirt road in the southern border region, adding that they were "not afraid of the occupation due to the army, the resistance, and the people," a popular saying which Hezbollah and its followers refer to as 'the golden equation.'

"We are proud and content with the return of our territories," the Kfar Shuba mayor went on to say.

According to political analyst Wassim Bazzi, the presence of the Lebanese army throughout the digging helped legitimize the Kfar Shuba municipality's attempt to retake its land.

Tension has been simmering on the border lately over an outpost erected by Hezbollah earlier this year in the occupied Shebaa Farms.

The erection of the outpost served as a response to ongoing Israeli violation of Lebanese sovereignty, particularly but not limited to excavation work carried out on the Lebanese side of the border.

In the latest of these continuous violations, Israel in early July annexed the northernmost part of the occupied town of Ghajar, which is internationally recognized as Lebanese territory.