Lebanon plans UN complaint against Israel over border wall

Lebanon will file a complaint to the United Nations Security Council alleging that Israel is building walls in southern Lebanon, an accusation Israel has denied, the Lebanese presidency said, Report informs via The Times of Israel.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said on Friday that the Israeli army had built walls on the Lebanese side of the UN-demarcated Blue Line, the de facto border.

When asked by AFP about the accusation, the Israeli military said, "The wall does not cross the Blue Line."

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun's office said he had instructed officials "to file an urgent complaint to the United Nations Security Council against Israel for constructing a concrete wall on Lebanon"s southern border exceeding the Blue Line."

He requested that the complaint "be accompanied by reports issued by the United Nations refuting the Israeli denial of the wall's construction."

According to UNIFIL, last month, observers surveyed a concrete T-wall erected by the Israeli army southwest of Yaroun and found that it "crossed the Blue Line, rendering more than 4,000 square meters of Lebanese territory inaccessible to the Lebanese people."

A survey this month of additional construction showed "a section of wall southeast of Yaroun also crossed the Blue Line," the UNIFIL statement added, calling it a violation of Lebanon's sovereignty.

The observer force said it had informed the Israeli army of the October findings and requested that it move the wall.