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IDF soldiers stationed in Shaba Farms earlier this year. (Yaron Kaminsky)
Last update - 16:09 17/06/2008
Report: U.S. urges Israeli pullout from disputed Golan area
By Haaretz Service
Tags: UN, Lebanon, Shaba Farms 

The United States is pressing for an Israeli withdrawal from a disputed Golan Heights area located on the border with Lebanon, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told the Arabic language daily Al-Hayyat on Sunday.

According to the report, Rice told Lebanese leaders during her unexpected visit to Beirut that the U.S. would bolster its efforts in the coming weeks toward pushing Israel to pull out from the Shaba Farms.

The a-Sharq al-Awset newspaper had a similar report this week, in which it claimed that U.S. supports an Israeli withdrawal from the area.
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The region, a small area in the foothills of the Golan Heights, is considered Lebanese by the Lebanese government but the United Nations says it is Syrian land. Israel annexed the area in the 1967 Six-Day War, a move not recognized by the international community.

According to the al-Hayyat report, Rice said during her Beirut visit that U.S. President George W. Bush has taken it upon himself to resolve the Shaba Farms issue and has asked the United Nations to expedite a mission to inspect the situation on the ground there.

Rice told the paper that the results of the investigation would be included in an annual UN report on the implementation of Resolution 1701, which ostensibly ended the Second Lebanon War.

The daily reported that Rice believes Israel will have to pull out from the area after the UN releases its report.

The Lebanese government proposed in 2006 that once Israel withdraws from the region, UNIFIL forces would be deployed there to monitor the handover to Lebanon with the formalization of the Syria-Lebanon border.

The question over the Shaba Farms has resurfaced recently, in the wake of renewed peace negotiations between Israel and Syria.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his cabinet last week he hoped Lebanon would also consider opening talks on peace, but Lebanon later dashed these hopes, saying Israel must first withdraw from the disputed Shaaba Farms region in accordance with UN Security Council resolutions.

Meanwhile, Military Intelligence chief investigator Yossi Baiditz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday that despite the UN resolution and the presence of peacekeeping forces, Hezbollah has managed to bolster its military infrastructure in south Lebanon.

Baiditz said the militant group is now in possession of tens of thousands more rockets than it had prior to the Second Lebanon War.

Related articles:
  • Rice, in Beirut, voices U.S. backing for gov't that ups Hezbollah's power
  • Israeli sources: Deal with Hezbollah likely next week
  • Report: Hezbollah willing to negotiate over Shaba Farms
  • Lebanon: Israel must quit Shaba Farms if it wants peace talks
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      1.   Israel best suck it up and leave 10:43  |  Chris Linthwaite 17/06/08
      2.   Bush wants a tangible success in the peace process 10:52  |  Natallie Durson 17/06/08
      3.   Rice is putting Israel in Peril, Rice is playing with Fire 10:57  |  The Archives 17/06/08
      4.   `Land for peace` is medieval idea... 11:12  |  Paul Henzen 17/06/08
      5.   Dealing and weeling 11:43  |  zznhl 17/06/08
      6.   oh golly gee! was this what assad meant? 11:56  |  eric 17/06/08
      7.   Return the Shaba Farms anyway 12:16  |  David Plane 17/06/08
      8.   THE REAL REASON IS BECAUSE MCCAIN CHANCE IS VERY SLIM 12:27  |  indrajaya 17/06/08
      9.   OLMERT PLEASE SHUT UP 12:40  |  netta 17/06/08
      10.   TERROR APPEASERS!!!!! 13:08  |  Ben Uziel 17/06/08
      11.   To Natallie Durson -- I pray there is foot-dragging 13:25  |  Josh 17/06/08
      12.   Exorbitant price for winning all battles? 13:33  |  H.H.M. 17/06/08
      13.   Any withdrawal to 1967 bd has to be approved by Ben Jabo Ben Tize 13:47  |  Aounist 17/06/08
      14.   Arabs (and Rice) 3, Olmert 0. 13:52  |  Scorekeeper 17/06/08
      15.   Lebanese right to put Sheba Farms in Lebanon 14:01  |  Mod 17/06/08
      16.   Screw Condi - She`s an Israel-hater from the start 14:22  |  Here we go again... 17/06/08
      17.   Here is my question 14:31  |  Dont Tust Them 17/06/08
      18.   US should urge itself to go where they came from 14:47  |  Sal 17/06/08
      19.   Nothing disputed about it 14:49  |  Ahmed 17/06/08
      20.   #17 Here is your answer 14:54  |  Ahmed 17/06/08
      21.   NO to pullout 14:54  |  Brod 17/06/08
      22.   Ms Rice & Bush no friend of Israel 14:55  |  John Fellows 17/06/08
      23.   The Black Widow Stings Again 14:58  |  Chaim Gorenstein 17/06/08
      24.   Ahmed 15:15  |  Doron 17/06/08
      25.   to john fellows 15:21  |  noor 17/06/08
      26.   #17 I will be glad to answer your easy question 15:27  |  noor 17/06/08
      27.   As usual, the othe side will give nothing in return 15:33  |  Dan 17/06/08
      28.   I respect israelis but the ones here are such crybabies 15:34  |  noor 17/06/08
      29.   Ahmed, if Lebanon wants it everytihg about is disputed 15:35  |  Dan 17/06/08
      30.   note to josh-ISRAEL HAS NOT FULLY WITHDRAWN FROM LEBANON!!! 15:37  |  noor 17/06/08
      31.   Ahemd, you are brained washed 15:39  |  Dan 17/06/08
      32.   Noor 15:46  |  Ramius 17/06/08
      33.   btw Doron, do ALL israelis sleep well at night? 15:46  |  noor 17/06/08
      34.   Doron is really insane 15:50  |  noor 17/06/08
      35.   Doron, want to know what EXTERMINATION really is? 15:55  |  noor 17/06/08
      36.   Withdrawal of Golan - Must be approved by G_d!! 15:57  |  Alastair 17/06/08
      37.   im the hater ramius? 16:00  |  noor 17/06/08
      38.   the other side can give peace in return, dan 16:03  |  noor 17/06/08
      39.   Oh Noor please go back to your hive and sleep it off. 16:06  |  Ramius 17/06/08
      40.   rice is going to give louisiana back to the french nd alaska back 16:11  |  r 17/06/08
      41.   And I shall answer yours to POST 26..... 16:12  |  Dagma 17/06/08
      42.   Those claiming Rice is anti-Israel are jokers 16:20  |  O-Dog 17/06/08
      43.   Noor show us the evidence 16:23  |  Ramius 17/06/08
      44.   We have NO right to "Urge" Israel to give up 16:25  |  JB 17/06/08
      45.   Oh Ahmed, the Dark Ages ended centuries ago 16:26  |  Richard S 17/06/08
      46.   Hizbullah will disarm and Israel will withdraw 16:28  |  Mustafa Halil 17/06/08
      47.   U.S. pressure on ISRAEL 16:33  |  concerned 17/06/08
      48.   Ahmed 19 & 20 16:34  |  George 17/06/08
      49.   To Ahmad # 20 16:38  |  Mustafa Halil 17/06/08
      50.   TIME FOR OLMERT TO GO!!!!!! LAND GIVE AWAY`S MUST END!!!!! 16:58  |  David P 17/06/08
      51.   Is it Really Rice`s Idea 17:00  |  CM 17/06/08
      52.   Probably that is the only smart move by the Bush Admin 17:33  |  Palestinian 17/06/08
      53.   First open talks with Israel.., Mr. Suleiman. 17:38  |  Stephen. 17/06/08
      54.   WE WILL NOT GIVE UP THIS LAND! 17:40  |  Sarah 17/06/08
      55.   NO LAND = NO PEACE (i.e Egypt) 17:50  |  UN MAN 17/06/08
      56.   Attacks on Israel get Rewarded 17:51  |  Linda Rivera 17/06/08
      57.   #54 Sarah 17:52  |  Chris Linthwaite 17/06/08
      58.   Lebanon & Israel BETRAYED by Peace Agreements of Death & WAR 18:09  |  Linda Rivera 17/06/08
      59.   Greed for land 18:10  |  Greedy Miser I Am 17/06/08
      60.   UN Resolution 1701 BETRAYED Israel, Lebanon & the Free World 18:10  |  Linda Rivera 17/06/08
      61.   Alastair - If you are right, then why was Israel EVER lost? 18:12  |  Historian 17/06/08
      62.   Israel is currently OCCUPYING LAND from 3 COUNTRIES. 18:28  |  POP 17/06/08
      63.   MCCAIN WILL APPOINT RICE AS HIS V.P. 18:29  |  indrajaya 17/06/08
      64.   Disputed? my foot 18:30  |  Michael N 17/06/08
      65.   #60 Linda Rivera 19:19  |  Chris Linthwaite 17/06/08
      66.   # 1 Chris, you can kiss our bihind many, many times.... 19:42  |  misha 17/06/08
      67.   #66 misha 19:58  |  Chris Linthwaite 17/06/08
      68.   not without negotiations, and not without peace treaty 20:23  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 17/06/08
      69.   Why not withdraw 20:29  |  Dave Duncan 17/06/08
      70.   #53, Stephen, you are a