Lebanese army organizes tour along border with Israel for UN representatives

Representatives of member states of the UN Security Council accredited to Lebanon, accompanied by Lebanese officers, are seen during a tour along the Blue Line, on Aug. 8, 2023. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

BEIRUT, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Lebanese Army Command on Tuesday organized a field tour along the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel for representatives of member states of the UN Security Council accredited to Lebanon.

Lebanese military sources told Xinhua that the tour started from the Lebanese army barracks in Tyre, passed through Ras Naqoura in the west, and reached the Ghajar axis in the east.

The group stopped at the 13 border points of dispute between Lebanon and Israel, as well as the Shebaa Farms axis, the town of Ghajar, and the barbed wire fence erected by the Israeli army.

Mounir Shehadeh, the Lebanese government coordinator with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), said Lebanon considers the 13 disputed border points and the Shebaa Farms as the Lebanese territories occupied by Israel.

He also mentioned that the Israeli boats entered the Lebanese territorial waters in the Ras al-Naqoura axis at the time of the tour, showing a lack of respect for international law.

The Blue Line is a demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel published by the United Nations in 2000.

Last month, the Israeli army installed barbed wire and cement blocks in border areas from the Ghajar axis in the west to Shebaa and Karchouba in the east, leading to rising tensions with the Lebanese army.

Representatives of member states of the UN Security Council accredited to Lebanon, accompanied by Lebanese officers, are seen during a tour along the Blue Line, on Aug. 8, 2023. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

Representatives of member states of the UN Security Council accredited to Lebanon, accompanied by Lebanese officers, are seen on a watchtower during a tour along the Blue Line, on Aug. 8, 2023. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

Lebanese soldiers stand guard during a tour for representatives of member states of the UN Security Council accredited to Lebanon along the Blue Line, on Aug. 8, 2023.  (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

Lebanese soldiers stand guard during a tour for representatives of member states of the UN Security Council accredited to Lebanon along the Blue Line, on Aug. 8, 2023.  (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)

Representatives of member states of the UN Security Council accredited to Lebanon, accompanied by Lebanese officers, are seen during a tour along the Blue Line, on Aug. 8, 2023. (Photo by Ali Hashisho/Xinhua)