Hezbollah Warns Israel Against Building roads on Occupied Territory

Friday, 19 August, 2016 - 16:00

Israel has received a warning by the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah against the ongoing construction of a road in Israeli-occupied Lebanese territory.

The two-kilometer-long road in the Shebaa Farms is being built by the regime in southern Lebanon, which has been occupied by Israel along with vast expanses of other Arab territories in 1967.

“It’s another crime to add to the long list of enemy crimes against Lebanon,” Hezbollah said in a statement on Thursday, referring to the construction work. According to the Lebanese movement’s statement, the work “exposes the limitless Zionist greed for Lebanese land and wealth.”

Hezbollah also called on the Lebanese government to “conduct its normal role in defending Lebanon’s sovereignty and take the necessary measures to confront” the Israeli step.

Two wars were launched on Lebanon by Israel: the first one – in 2000 and another one – in 2006. The 33-day war in the summer of 2006 claimed lives of about 1,200 Lebanese, the most part of whom were civilians.

On August 18, army chief Major General Jean Kahwagi said that the Lebanese military forces are going to defend the country from Israel.

“The military will confront Israeli aggression, targeting Lebanon with all the available capabilities, thanks to the efforts of the units deployed [in the South],” Kahwagi said.

According to the Major General, the army’s main missions are protection the country’s south from the Israeli enemy, completion its other missions to combat terrorism along the eastern border, and maintenance domestic security.

In August 2014, the eastern Lebanese town of Arsal was captured by the Jabhat Fateh al-Sham (former Al-Nusra Front) and the Islamic State (IS) terrorist groups. As result, a number of Lebanese fighters were killed, while 30 other soldiers were taken hostage – most of them were been released later.

Since then, the army and Hezbollah have been defending Lebanon on the eastern border, preventing spilling of terrorism into neighboring Syria.

Kahwagi also called on Israel to uphold the UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which has established a ceasefire during the war in 2006 and urged Israel to respect Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

However, the Israeli military have repeatedly violated the resolution, including by incessant sendings of unmanned aerial vehicles in the Lebanese airspace.