In a tripartite meeting with officers from Israel and UNIFIL, Lebanon demands the removal of barbed wire erected by Israel at the border

The Lebanese army demanded the removal of a barbed wire erected by Israel in a disputed area at Lebanon's southern border, during an extraordinary meeting - yesterday, Tuesday - of the officers of each of the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) and the Lebanese and Israeli armies at the headquarters of the UN force in the town of Ras al-Naqoura, southern Lebanon.

The Lebanese army said, in a statement, that "an extraordinary tripartite meeting was held in Ras Naqoura, headed by the commander of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, Aroldo Lazaro, in the presence of a delegation of Lebanese army officers headed by the Lebanese government coordinator to the United Nations force, Brigadier General Mounir Shehadeh."

During the meeting, the Lebanese side stressed "the need to remove the barbed wire recently placed by the Israeli enemy in the area where Lebanon reserves the Blue Line in the town of Adaysah (south)," according to the statement.

He also called for "the necessity of removing the fence placed by the enemy on Ras al-Naqoura hill north of the Blue Line, as well as the concrete wall in the same area between Lebanon and occupied Palestine."

Last week, skirmishes took place on the southern border after the Lebanese army prevented Israeli soldiers from completing excavation work near the border fence in the "Al-Mutalla" settlement opposite the Kfar Kila area in southern Lebanon.

During the meeting, the Lebanese side reaffirmed the need for Israel to withdraw from all the occupied Lebanese lands, which are the Shebaa Farms, the Kfar Shuba Hills, the outskirts of the town of al-Mari and 13 areas in which Lebanon reserves the Blue Line, and 17 other areas that are subject to permanent breaches of the Blue Line, according to the statement.

The blue line was set by the United Nations for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon in 2000, and Lebanon reserves some of the areas it passes through in light of Israel's continued occupation of Lebanese lands.

Lebanon complains about Israel's violation of its airspace and territorial waters on an almost daily basis, and calls on the United Nations to intervene to stop these violations, especially the Israeli bombing of Syria through Lebanese airspace.