he Lebanese Army urged the head of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon forces to consider Israeli tapping devices installed along Lebanon’s border a violation of Security Council Resolution 1701, according to an Army statement released Thursday.
The head of mission and force commander of the UNIFIL, Maj. Gen. Luciano Portolano, chaired a regular tripartite meeting with senior officers from the Lebanese and Israeli armies at the U.N. position at the Ras al-Naqoura crossing Thursday.
Representing the Lebanese Army, the government coordinator over the armed forces Maj. Gen. Mohammad Janbeh headed a delegation of military soldiers at the tripartite meeting.
Citing Israeli violations, Janbeh spoke about the installation of “Israeli telecommunications equipment” along the Blue Line that is being “used to eavesdrop on Lebanese communications.”
Janbeh asked that such measures be “deemed a violation of Resolution 1701” as Israeli forces work to boost the number of telecommunications devices installed along the border.
The Army official argued that such devices are related to a tapping device that was blown up in the area of Adloun earlier this month.
The Lebanese delegation stressed the need to respect Resolution 1701 – the agreement that ended Lebanon’s 2006 war with Israel by dispatching UNIFIL forces along the border between the two countries.
Janbeh also highlighted continuous Israeli aerial violations, saying that on average “Israeli planes fly over Lebanese territory for 15 hours a day.”
The Lebanese delegation also condemned the “acts of intimidation practiced by the Israeli enemy” on Lebanese citizens both by land and sea and demanded a “halt to all violations” and “an immediate withdrawal” from the Lebanese part of the occupied border village of Ghajar.
