Israel will present the UN with a plan to withdraw from the northern sector of a disputed village along the Lebanese border that it has occupied since its 2006 war with Hezbollah, an Israeli official said on November 7. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t present the proposal to UN chief Ban Ki-moon until Monday. Details of the plan were not released, though Israel clearly would like assurances that fighters of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah won’t be able to gain a foothold there from which to threaten cross-border attacks. An Israeli withdrawal could also set the stage for more tension between Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri’s Western-backed political bloc and its Hezbollah rivals, who have extended their political influence in Hariri’s shaky coalition government and maintain the country’s strongest military arsenal. Hariri’s allies would likely use the pullout to argue that Hezbollah no longer needs its weapons and that disputed land can be regained with the help of the international community instead. Hezbollah, which refuses to disarm, is already saying its military power would be to thank for any Israeli pullout.
ISRAEL TO WITHDRAW FROM VILLAGE ON LEBANON BORDER
Israel will present the UN with a plan to withdraw from the northern sector of a disputed village along the Lebanese border that it has occupied since its 2006 war with Hezbollah
