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UN, Lebanon Ascertain Israel Stealing Water From Lebanon
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and Lebanese army teams verifying border encroachments have confirmed that Israel was stealing water from Lebanon's Wazzan River near the Israeli-Lebanese border, An Nahar newspaper reported Friday.
In a major transgression, water is being pumped through two four-inch pipelines into northern Israel from a station set up in the foothills of Mount Hermon, which is still under Israeli control, the teams claimed on Thursday.
Brigadier General Amin Hotait, who heads the Lebanese army verification team, has demanded the cessation of this kind of invasion and called for international pressure to stop it.
UNIFIL deputy commander Lieutenant General James Sreenan and Hotait have agreed to resume ground verification checks on Friday in the river region.
The Israeli military announced in Jerusalem Thursday that the government had lodged 49 complaints over stone-throwing attacks from the Lebanese side of the border on Israeli troops and farmers last week.
It also claimed that the Lebanese authorities were doing nothing to stop such attacks that had been mounted in the presence of Hezbollah guerrillas, who have taken effective control of south Lebanon after the May 24 Israeli withdrawal.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah's second-in-command Sheikh Naim Kassem announced Thursday in southern Beirut that the guerrilla group will not lay down arms because "Zionist threat still exists." He also rejected any conditioned aid to south Lebanon, saying "any assistance with strings attached is unacceptable."
Israel said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan Thursday night that there was on justification for the presence of armed Hezbollah guerrillas in the south after the Israeli withdrawal.
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