Blue Line (Lebanon)

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Map with the blue line showing the 1949 border (“ Green Line ”) between Israel and Lebanon.

The blue line is a demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel drawn by the UN to determine whether Israel had complied with UN Resolution 425 .

background

On March 11, 1978, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) carried out a terrorist attack in Israel. The attack was directed against two buses and killed 37 Israelis. In response, Israeli forces occupied Lebanese territory, from which the PLO operated regularly during the 1970s. Beginning on the night of March 14-15, 1978 and culminating within a few days, the Israeli army had occupied the entire southern part of the country, with the exception of the city of Tire and its surroundings. This operation is known in Israel as Operation Litani .

On March 15, 1978, the Lebanese government sent the United Nations a sharp protest against the Israeli invasion. She stated that she had no connection to the Palestinian operations. On March 19, 1978, the Security Council adopted Resolution 425 , in which it called on Israel to immediately cease military action and withdraw its troops from Lebanese territory. The council also decided on the immediate formation of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The first UNIFIL troops arrived in the area on March 23, 1978.

Definition

The Blue Line is based on the positions of the Tzahal (Israel Defense Forces, Israeli Army) before March 14, 1978. It corresponds to the Purple Line , which is the armistice line of the Six Day War (1967) - as well as the Green Line (established in 1949 ), which represents the armistice line of the 1948 Palestine War. It is also argued that the 1923 map was partly to be considered as a preliminary definition of the Israeli-Lebanese border , as it attempted to specify the border between French and English territories (see: Treaty of Sèvres ); Lebanon was originally a French League of Nations mandate while Israel was a British mandate (see also League of Nations ).

Borders are normally negotiated between two states, and between 1949 and 1967 Israeli and Lebanese surveyors completed 25 km of the border, marking another quarter of the international border without specifying it. When Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak announced on April 17, 2000 that Israel would begin withdrawing its troops from Lebanon, the Lebanese government refused to take part in marking the border. This move forced the UN to conduct its own explorations based on the line outlined in UN Resolution 425.

On May 25, 2000, the Israeli government informed the Secretary-General of the United Nations that Israel had regrouped its armed forces in accordance with resolution 425.

Between May 24th and June 7th, 2000, special UN delegates traveled to Israel, Lebanon and Syria, according to the report of the Secretary-General of May 22nd, 2000. The mapmaker of the UN and his team, supported by UNIFIL, worked ahead Place to determine a line that should be used to confirm the Israeli withdrawal. Although not a formal demarcation, the goal was to draw a line that corresponded to the internationally recognized borders of Lebanon.

The map, completed on June 7, shows the line of retreat that the UNIFIL commander had sent to his Lebanese and Israeli counterparts. Disregarding their respective reservations, the Governments of Israel and Lebanon have confirmed that this line has been identified as the sole responsibility of the United Nations and that it is understood as such.

On June 16, the UN Secretary-General reported to the Security Council that Israel withdrew its troops from Lebanon in accordance with resolution 425 (1978) and, in accordance with its May 22, 2000 report, Israel withdrew its troops behind those of the UN Nations established line. The militias in southern Lebanon have been disarmed and all prisoners in Al-Khiam have been released.

Since then this ceasefire line has been referred to as the Blue Line in all official UN documents .

Violation of the blue line

The violation of the Blue Line has led to skirmishes since then. Between October 7, 2000 and November 21, 2005, there were numerous violations of the Blue Line in the area of ​​the Shebaa farms, with numerous deaths and injuries. A border incident in which two Israeli soldiers were abducted and five others were initially killed, on July 12, 2006 the trigger for the attack by Israeli troops on Lebanon, the 2006 Lebanon War .

On January 28, 2015 at 11:30 am local time, Hezbollah hit a ZAHAL vehicle with an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanese territory, killing two soldiers and injuring at least seven more. Israel responded by shelling Hezbollah targets.

On December 4, 2018, the Israeli army began to destroy Hezbollah terror tunnels, which, similar to the tunnels in the Gaza Strip, extend to Israeli territory. The aim of the Northern Shield military operation is to expose and neutralize the tunnels. The army only operates on Israeli territory, not in Lebanon. In 2012, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah announced that he would conquer Galilee. The terror tunnels are part of this plan and should serve to infiltrate Israel. After a visit on December 6, 2018, UNIFIL's commander , Major General Stefano Del Col, confirmed the existence of a tunnel near the village of Metulla . On January 13, 2019, it was announced that the day before the Israeli army had found the longest tunnel between Lebanon and Israel to date. The 800 meter long and 55-meter low-lying tunnel is thus already the sixth such tunnels and injured, according to UNIFIL , the resolution 1701 of the UN Security Council . On the same day the military operation ended.

Course of the blue line

The Blue Line runs along the 1949 Armistice Line (also known as the “Green Line”) from the Mediterranean in the west to the point where the line in the east meets Syrian territory.

Despite the UN's confirmation that the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon was complete, the Lebanese side claimed the uninhabited area of ​​the Shebaa farms .

Others

Part of the Israeli border wall at Rosh HaNikra

In February 2018, Israel began building an eleven-kilometer wall at Rosh HaNikra ; another wall near Metula is to follow. It consists of a seven-meter-high wall with a two-meter fence. The facility is designed to protect against sniper attacks and infiltration by the Hezbollah militia. It is planned to secure the entire 130-kilometer border in this way.

See also

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Report of the Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 425 (1978) and 426 (1978). ( Memento of November 30, 2001 in the Internet Archive ) at: un.org .
  2. ↑ Security Council endorses Secretary-General's conclusion on Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon as of 16 June. on: un.org (English).
  3. ^ Newsletter of the Israeli Embassy. In: Israeli Embassy in Berlin from. January 29, 2015, accessed December 28, 2018 .
  4. ^ Border with Lebanon: Several dead in Hezbollah attack on Israeli army convoy . In: Spiegel Online . January 28, 2015 ( spiegel.de [accessed December 30, 2019]).
  5. ↑ Israel takes action against Hezbollah tunnel. In: Israelnetz .de. December 4, 2018, accessed December 28, 2018 .
  6. ↑ What about the military operation in Northern Israel. In: Israelnetz .de. December 5, 2018, accessed December 29, 2018 .
  7. ^ UNIFIL head of mission visits tunnels discovered by Israel. In: Israelnetz .de. December 7, 2018, accessed December 29, 2018 .
  8. ^ Jüdische Allgemeine: Israel discovers the longest terror tunnel to date. January 13, 2019, accessed January 13, 2019 .
  9. ↑ WORLD: Mortal danger: Hezbollah tunnel extends far to Israel . In: THE WORLD . June 11, 2019 ( welt.de [accessed April 12, 2020]).
  10. ↑ Operation "Northern Shield" ended. In: Israelnetz .de. January 14, 2019, accessed January 20, 2019 .
  11. ↑ sueddeutsche.de : A little war .
  12. ↑ Israelnetz.de of February 6, 2018: Lebanese Army criticizes Israeli security barrier
  13. ↑ Israel is expanding the border facility in the north . In: Israelnetz.de , September 7, 2018, accessed on September 14, 2018.