Lebanon will file a complaint with the U.N. Security Council against Israel over the construction of a concrete wall along the southern border that Beirut says extends beyond the U.N.-demarcated Blue Line, the Lebanese presidency said Saturday.
The Blue Line, established by the United Nations, separates Lebanon from Israel and the Golan Heights. Israeli forces withdrew to that line when they left southern Lebanon in 2000.
U.N. spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said Friday that the wall has rendered more than 4,000 square meters (nearly one acre) of Lebanese territory inaccessible to local residents. The Lebanese presidency echoed the concern, calling the construction “a violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701 and an infringement on Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has requested that Israel remove the wall, Dujarric said.
An Israeli military spokesperson denied that the wall crosses the Blue Line, saying it is part of a broader Israel Defense Forces plan that began construction in 2022. “Since the start of the war, and as part of lessons learned from it, the IDF has been advancing a series of measures, including reinforcing the physical barrier along the northern border,” the spokesperson said.
UNIFIL, established in 1978, operates between the Litani River and the Blue Line. The mission includes more than 10,000 troops from 50 countries and about 800 civilian staff, according to its website.