CAIRO: On Monday, the Lebanese army fired anti-aircraft guns at Israeli jets flying over the south of the country. A spokesman for the military said that the planes, Phantom fighter-jets flying at a low altitude, were in violation of Lebanese airspace. “The anti-aircraft artillery was fired on four Israeli enemy aircraft flying over the region of Marjayoun this morning,” the spokeman told reporters after the incident. A day prior, United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) soldiers deployed along the Lebanese-Israel border recorded images of “Zionist aircraft†violating Lebanese airspace for three continuous hours, according to a press release from Hezbollah, the Islamic Shia organization with a stronghold in southern Lebanon. “The planes penetrated the airspace border dozens of times, and in more than one direction,†a statement from Hezbollah said. It went on to point out that, “The planes flew in a provocative manner aiming to be clearly seen as they formed white circles in the sky along the south.†One resident from the south, long a stronghold for Hezbollah, remarked: “we call upon the international forces, rather than enumerating the violations, to do something else, for this is a daily violation of sovereignty by the enemy planes.” The Lebanese army reports violations of its airspace on its southern border on a near daily basis. However, aircraft are rarely fired upon as they usually do not fly within range of the army’s anti-aircraft guns. For its part, UNIFIL routinely condemns the violations of Lebanese sovereignty, saying such violations “tend to exacerbate local apprehensions and are in contravention of the mission’s objectives and efforts to reduce tensions and establish a stable security environment in south Lebanon.†The UN mission acknowledges that such flights are in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701, as is the firing of rockets into Israel. The current UNIFIL mission was established after the end of the 34-day war between Israel and Hezbollah militants. The mission currently has 13,000 soldiers stationed in south Lebanon monitoring the ‘Blue Line’ that separates the Lebanese and Israeli sides of the border. The daily fly overs have caused much consternation among Lebanese, who believe that they are a violation of their nation's sovereignty and should be forcible curtailed by the United Nations. “We believe that this is exactly what Israel does when it doesn't want peace with its neighbors. This intimidation will not break the resolve of the Lebanese people,” said George Ghanem in a phone conversation on Wednesday afternoon. The Israeli Embassy in Cairo did not return repeated calls by Bikya Masr staff for more information on the situation. BM
