Report: Israel to build wall on Lebanese border to quell tensions

[News_Editor]

Report: Israel to build wall on Lebanese border to quell tensions

2012-01-03 12:19:25 GMT+7 (ICT)

TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (BNO NEWS) -- The government of Israel is planning to construct a wall which would separate its northernmost town from a Lebanese village in a bid to quell tensions in the area, according to media reports on Monday.

The Ma'an News Agency and the Xinhua news agency both cited Israeli officials saying the construction of the wall is expected to begin in the coming weeks when the plans are finalized. "The area in question has been a source of friction in the past," an Israeli army spokesman told Xinhua.

The wall would separate the Israeli village of kibbutz al-Matala and the Lebanese village of Kafr Kala. It would measure about five meters (16.4 feet) high and one kilometer (0.6 mile) long and be equipped with alarms.

In 2000, the United Nations (UN) established the 'Blue Line' which covers a stretch of the Israeli and Lebenon border area which has been disputed by both sides. The line was set to determine whether Israel had withdrawn from Lebanon after its 1982 invasion.

Border tensions have been high ever since. In November 2011, a series of four Katyusha rockets were fired from Lebanon into the Western Galilee area of northern Israel.

As a result of the attack, two buildings were damaged and one of the 122-millimeter (4.8 inch) rockets struck a gas tank. A fire broke out which burned for several hours, but there were no injuries.

The al-Qaeda affiliated militant group the Sheikh Abdullah Azzam Brigades later claimed responsibility for the attack. Members of the small group mostly live in Palestinian refugee camps in southern Lebanon and have limited and outdated arms, many of them leftover from the Lebanon civil war in the 1980s.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2012-01-03