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Last update - 13:18 03/10/2008
Hezbollah: Ghajar, Shaba Farms will soon be freed
By Haaretz Service
Tags: ghajar, shaba farms 

Hezbollah has warned that it will "soon liberate" the contentious Shaba Farms and the divided village of Ghajar, Lebanon's Daily Star reported on Friday.

Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, Hezbollah's leader in southern Lebanon, told supporters in the border village of Abbasieh that diplomacy over the areas had failed and the only way to regain control of the land was to use force, according to the report.

"Betting on liberating land via diplomacy and politics is a sterile bet," the report quoted Qaouk as saying. "The only guaranteed way to recover the remaining occupied land is the resistance and nothing else."
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Qaouk added that Israel understands only the language of force, adding that it was Hezbollah's national duty to fulfill the achievements it had begun with the Israel Defense Forces' withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, according to the report.

"The resistance's strategy is Lebanon's main source of power, enabling it to recover the remaining occupied lands," the report quoted Qaouk as saying.

"We, as Lebanese, are here to confirm that we cling to freeing every grain of our soil. We will not abandon the great national cause, which is the continuation of the liberation of our land," Qaouk added.

Israel told the United States on Sunday it was prepared to withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar on the Lebanese border, a change in its policy for the past year and a half of not wanting to discuss the issue.

A government source in Jerusalem said the decision was made after the Lebanese government delivered written assurances that UNIFIL would be given security and civilian control over the northern part of the village, which is in Lebanese territory.

"The Americans have been asking us for a long time to move ahead on the Lebanon issue and after receiving the letter, it was decided to show a more positive stance," the source also said, referring to the written assurances by Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces Planning Branch and the Northern Command are now at work on the details of the withdrawal from the northern part of Ghajar.

Ghajar, located between the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights, was annexed to Israel in 1981 together with the Golan Heights, and its inhabitants received Israeli citizenship. After the IDF's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, the UN determined that the border between Israel and Syria crossed the village, and that Israel, which holds the Golan Heights, could operate only in the southern part of the village. However, according to the UN, the IDF frequently operates in the northern part of the village, beyond the international border.

In recent years the village has become a center for smuggling and infiltration of criminal elements from Lebanon to Israel, along with Hezbollah agents.

According to Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War, Israel was to have withdrawn its forces from the northern part of Ghajar.

In March 2007, the security cabinet approved a deal whereby the IDF would cease its operations in the northern part of the village, giving the UN and Lebanese army forces responsibility for security and leaving civilian affairs in Israel's hands. However, Beirut did not implement the agreement, among other things because of its political crisis. Israel has since refused to discuss the matter and conditioned agreement on a written pledge by the Lebanese government to a new arrangement.

UNIFIL had transmitted a number of drafts to Israel, which it has rejected.

About two weeks ago Israel gave an official letter to UNIFIL commander General Claudio Graziano, stating that it accepts UN security and civilian control over the northern part of the village.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah last week told a crowd of supporters in a televised address that Jerusalem and Palestine would soon be returned to their rightful owners.

"I think that if you consider current developments," Nasrallah told thousands of Shiite Hezbollah backers at a rally in Beirut, "the return of Jerusalem and Palestine is not far off, and could even happen in the near future."

Nasrallah reiterated that backing the resistance [Hezbollah] was essential because "the resistance is the only way to liberate Palestine and occupied lands by Israel."

Related articles:
  • A village divided
  • Nasrallah: Return of Jerusalem and Palestine closer than ever
  • Marines '83 Beirut chief: Mughniyeh killing 'overdue justice'
  • Rival Lebanese factions begin dialogue on Hezbollah weapons
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      1.   How interesting: The UN established the international border 10:08  |  Nahum 03/10/08
      2.   Read between the lines 10:12  |  Michael 03/10/08
      3.   WHY not just ask Syrian brothers to hand over the title ? 10:41  |  PETER SM 03/10/08
      4.   They are looking to provocate and Israel must 10:45  |  hashkem o. teihareig 03/10/08
      5.   Just to point out, yet again..... 10:55  |  Johnboy 03/10/08
      6.   Slowly but surly 11:03  |  Mohamad from Lebanon 03/10/08
      7.   Of course they will return as long as the Galilee 11:10  |  ALGERIAN 03/10/08
      8.   Nasrallah wagering Lebanon again? 11:28  |  Rick & TC 03/10/08
      9.   What Pretense! 12:14  |  Jo 03/10/08
      10.   We should not give up the Golan : The Shaba Farm is part of ... 12:22  |  Jean Van Daem 03/10/08
      11.   Not only Ghajar, al-Quds as well 12:25  |  shlomo 03/10/08
      12.   ?Hudna? is not peace! 12:25  |  Jean Van Daem 03/10/08
      13.   hohum friday sermon 12:35  |  x-ray 03/10/08
      14.   Reaper....new game in town 12:35  |  allang 03/10/08
      15.   johnboy israel quite plainly has no interest in ghajar 12:45  |  harzion 03/10/08
      16.   Only Jewish Resistance will save JNF land from Arabs Occupation 13:22  |  Joseph.E 03/10/08
      17.   when is someone going to liberate the world from muslim lunatics 13:36  |  victor hardman 03/10/08
      18.   Hizballah is a joke! 13:55  |  D 03/10/08
      19.   to 17 14:02  |  ali 03/10/08
      20.   Nassralla is under a strong delusion . 14:04  |  Bill 03/10/08
      21.   Nazibullah won the war, with IDF 30 miles inside Lebanon 14:21  |  maurice 03/10/08
      22.   to Algerian 14:25  |  Harry 03/10/08
      23.   let the Ghajar people decide 14:29  |  Steve 03/10/08
      24.   Before they knock on the door 14:45  |  Rabbi Izzy Lahm 03/10/08
      25.   to 6, no wonder you are living in Las Vegas !!! 14:48  |  maurice 03/10/08
      26.   Soon Lebanon will be liberated from hezblala 15:20  |  Dan 03/10/08
      27.   Hez Belching More As Plea For Iran Money Than Threat to Israel! 15:22  |  Alex 03/10/08
      28.   The typical Hezbollan day 15:49  |  H 03/10/08
      29.   Johnboy # 5 And May I Point Out Again... 15:50  |  Jeff Northridge 03/10/08
      30.   Is this an attempt to heat up the border area on behalf of Iran? 16:01  |  Avner 03/10/08
      31.   Shaba Farms will be gone just as stated;as soon as livni gives 16:11  |  glenna 03/10/08
      32.   Mohamad from Lebanon # 6 What Lebanese Soil? 16:23  |  Jeff Northridge 03/10/08
      33.   I believe 16:34  |  Fahim 03/10/08
      34.   Angry people 17:07  |  Persian Hero 03/10/08
      35.   its election time in Lebanon, so he is just trying to gain 17:18  |  just a thought 03/10/08
      36.   Shaba Farms liberation is pending approval by Ben Jabo Ben Tize 17:37  |  Aounist 03/10/08
      37.   Johnboy #5 I am sick of your Bias. 17:39  |  Big Sur 03/10/08
      38.   #17 Victor I agree the world needs less Jihadis. 17:44  |  Big Sur 03/10/08
      39.   The Hezbollah and the haredim 17:44  |  Yonatan 03/10/08
      40.   #6 Mohammed (wanna place the odds ) Israel will punish Nasralluh 17:47  |  Big Sur 03/10/08
      41.   #36 you are exactly right;way to go in standing up for the truth! 17:59  |  glenna 03/10/08
      42.   D @18 is the real joke. 18:04  |  Roo 03/10/08
      43.   Mr. Iranian slave 18:19  |  Sarah 03/10/08
      44.   Sheikh Nabil Qaouk 18:19  |  Livin In Rishon 03/10/08
      45.   Mohamad from Lebanon 18:22  |  Sarah 03/10/08
      46.   THIS IS WXACTLY WHY NEW ELECTIONS ARE NEEDED NOW 18:24  |  Shepherd 03/10/08
      47.   just a thought # 33 Syria Might Disagree 18:48  |  Jeff Northridge 03/10/08
      48.   # 18 D 18:54  |  Che 03/10/08
      49.   I place my bet 18:57  |  Che 03/10/08
      50.   to the weak persian hero 18:58  |  JP 03/10/08
      51.   to the so called persian "hero" 18:58  |  JP 03/10/08
      52.   when hizb and iran, syria get uprooted, Lebanon it´ll be at peace 19:00  |  JP 03/10/08
      53.   Ahhh Shaba Farms New style ISRAELI KIBBUTZ 19:04  |  Big Sur 03/10/08
      54.   Some people can dream. can`t they....? 19:04  |  Natasha 03/10/08
      55.   Fahim # 33, and translations 19:17  |  allang 03/10/08
      56.   This used to be a quiet Frontier until Olmert .... 19:34  |  Dagma 03/10/08
      57.   roo hizballah lost the war 19:37  |  yair 03/10/08
      58.   Persian guy 19:40  |  Sank 03/10/08
      59.   roo did you know that the lebanese tourist industry has been 19:41  |  yirmi 03/10/08
      60.   roo did you know that israel still occupies lebanese land 19:44  |  gideon 03/10/08
      61.   Fahim # 33 I Believe Not 19:47  |  Jeff Northridge 03/10/08
      62.   so roo you like jokes 19:51  |  yahaskel 03/10/08