UNIFIL has confirmed that Israeli is building a security wall on the Israeli side of the Blue Line that separates Lebanon and Israel.
Israel is building the wall in expectation of an attempt by Hezbollah to overrun the border in the upcoming war. Lebanon and Hezbollah don’t want the wall built, so they can more easily overrun the border in the next war.
UNIFIL said it is tracking the construction and is in communication with relevant parties on both sides of the border in order to reduce tensions and prevent escalation.
Prime Minister Ehud Barak abandoned the IDF-enforced security zone in southern Lebanon, allowing Hezbollah to take it over. On June 7, 2000, the UN certified that Israel was fully redeployed on the southern side of the Blue Line, which was effectively defined as the internationally recognized border between the two countries.
Most of the Blue Line was originally demarcated in 1923, and parts were later marked off between 1950 and 1967.
At the time, both Israel and Lebanon told the UN that they would respect the Blue Line as drawn by the UN.
Only since then, Lebanon decided that it doesn’t recognize the Blue Line, and now claims that Israel is still occupying Lebanese territory.
Israel currently has a security fence a number of meters south of the Blue Line, allowing it to maintain the fence from both sides. But Lebanon has attacked Israeli soldiers who have crossed the fence to maintain the area south of the Blue Line.
After Israel abandoned the southern Lebanon security zone, Hezbollah took it over and now has well over 100,000 rockets and missiles in close range of Israel.
Lebanon’s government is mostly controlled by Hezbollah, which in turn is controlled by Iran.