Lebanon plans to file a complaint against Israel with the U.N. Security Council, alleging that a concrete security barrier being built along the Israel-Lebanon border crosses the Blue Line into Lebanon, Beirut said on Saturday.
Jerusalem claims that the wall is located within Israeli territory.
The Lebanese presidency called Jerusalem’s ongoing construction of the wall “a violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and an infringement on Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The United Nations on Friday accused the Israel Defense Forces of encroaching on Lebanese territory, with Secretary-General António Guterres’s spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, saying the army has made more than 4,000 square meters (nearly an acre) of Lebanese land inaccessible to residents.
Dujarric also highlighted a survey conducted last month by the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) that found the wall crosses the Blue Line, Reuters reported.
According to Dujarric, UNIFIL informed Israel of the findings and requested that the wall be removed.
“Israeli presence and construction in Lebanese territory are violations of Security Council Resolution 1701 and of Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” UNIFIL said.
IDF: ‘The wall does not cross the Blue Line’
The IDF told JNS on Friday that the wall does not cross the U.N.-demarcated withdrawal line.
“The wall is part of a broader IDF plan whose construction began in 2022. Since the start of the war, and as part of lessons learned from it, the IDF has been advancing a series of measures, including reinforcing the physical barrier along the northern border,” the IDF said. “It should be emphasized that the wall does not cross the Blue Line.”
The Hezbollah-affiliated Al Manar network reported last week that the IDF was building a new fence opposite Yaroun, close to an IDF outpost.
Other Arab media reports said that some sections extend beyond the Blue Line and into Lebanese territory, particularly in areas facing the towns of Maroun al-Ras, Ayta al-Shaab and near Avivim.
The IDF first confirmed to JNS on Wednesday that it was building a barrier at the Israel-Lebanon border, and that the barrier was entirely on Israeli territory.
“Contrary to Lebanese reports, the barrier in question is located within Israeli territory and does not cross into Lebanese territory,” the IDF said.
The Blue Line was drawn in 2000 to certify Israel’s pullout from Southern Lebanon and serves as the effective boundary between Israel and Lebanon, but it is not an internationally recognized border.
Iran’s Lebanese terror proxy Hezbollah began attacking northern Israel a day after the Hamas assault of Oct. 7, 2023, forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents and causing widespread damage to border communities until a ceasefire took hold in November last year.
Jerusalem continues to seek to contain Hezbollah amid the group’s efforts to rebuild and Beirut’s as-yet unfulfilled vows to place all weapons under state control.
