Nadene Goldfoot
JBS brings their weekly news with an interview with Sarah Zehavi who is explaining about Hezbollah's position right now. Hezbollah terrorists, fronted by Iran, created since 1982, are on the rise, taking advantage of Lebanon's position of lack of a president and a government that has collapsed. They, plus Lebanon's reserves, have 200,000 rockets aimed at Israel. The Hezbollah terror group established two tents in Israeli territory on the Lebanon border some two weeks ago, and the army had yet to clear them out as of Wednesday.
Israel asks Lebanon to remove militant
Israel has a problematic border on many fronts that they are watching, with the main one coming from Hezbollah's big brother, Iran. On the border are the Sheba Farms. The Shebaa Farms, also spelled Sheba'a Farms (Arabic: مزارع شبعا, Mazāri' Šib‘ā; Hebrew: חוות שבעא Havot Sheba‘a, or הר דוב, Har Dov), are a small strip of land at the intersection of the Lebanese-Syrian border and the Israeli Golan Heights, won through attacking Israel in 67.
A week in July 2023 saw rockets fired from south Lebanon that prompted cross-border strikes by Israel's military.
Lebanon's foreign ministry had said it would file a complaint to the United Nations in New York over what it described as Israel's "annexation" of the northern part of Ghajar, a village straddling the Israel-Lebanon border. Lebanon considers it part of its territory, but Ghajar's residents assert an allegiance to Syria. The tents put up are on Israeli territory, so if Ghajar is near the tents, that's Israeli territory and the population had been happy about it.
Syria has had rockets pointed at Israel as well. Jack Huffman (alias) , Syrian from Damascus and a college graduate, studied in Lebanon. He drove between the two states as easily as we would drive from Portland to Hillsboro. Lebanon has recently put up tents on Israeli land at the border. Israel didn't tear them down, not wanting to start a war, and now they are in deeper trouble, according to Zehavi for not doing so. Now it's gone political.
For the last decade, Hezbollah has focused its formidable energies on helping its longtime ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria, win the country’s civil war. As that conflict winds down with Assad secure in power, Hezbollah is pulled in many competing directions. Lebanon itself is in crisis, with NO president.
As of October 2022, President Michel Aoun left Lebanon’s presidential palace Sunday, marking the end of his six-year term without a replacement, leaving the small nation in a political vacuum that is likely to worsen its historic economic meltdown.Although a Maronite Christian, he opposed sectarianism during the multi-confessional country’s civil war (1975–90) and centred his efforts on reasserting the dominance of the army over the country, which was overrun by both militias and foreign troops. As Aoun’s term ends, the country is being run by a caretaker government after Prime Minister-designate Najib Mikati failed to form a new Cabinet following May 15 parliamentary elections. Thus, no government. Hezbollah stepped in, evidently.
Lebanon Foreign Minister Abdallah Bouhabib said Lebanese leaders told the UN commander that Israel should withdraw its troops from the Lebanese part of the town of Ghajar that was captured by Israeli troops in 2006. The tents that Lebanon has put up on Israeli soil are the subject of the problem. The commander of the UN peacekeeping force deployed on the tense Lebanon-Israel border relayed on Monday an Israeli request to remove a tent set up by the Hezbollah militant organization in a disputed area, Lebanon's foreign minister said.
Ghajar (Arabic: غجر, Hebrew: ע'ג'ר or רג'ר), also Rhadjar, is an Alawite-Arab village on the Hasbani River, on the border between Lebanon and the Israeli-occupied portion of Syria's former Golan Heights. In 2021, it had a population of 2,745 and was formerly a Kurdish town. Syria's president is an Alawite.
Israel was in the act of withdrawing but then the Syrian War developed. As the Syrian Civil War erupted, Israel halted redeployment along the border. Moreover, residents of Ghajar object to division of the village. Residents on both sides of the village have Israeli citizenship; those in the northern half often hold passports from both Lebanon and Israel. They work and travel freely within Israel, but those living on the Lebanese side have difficulties receiving services from Israel. There was an Israel Defense Forces checkpoint at the entrance to the village, and a fence surrounding the entire village, but no fence or barrier dividing the two sides of the village. The checkpoint at the entrance to the village was removed in September 2022 after the Local Council constructed a border fence separating the entire village from Lebanon.
Almost at the same time that the Hezbollah statement on Ghajar was issue, an anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanon near Ghajar — with some fragments landing in Lebanon and others inside Israeli territory. Israel fired shells on the outskirts of the nearby village of Kfar Chouba. Israel and Hezbollah fought to a draw in a monthlong war in Lebanon in 2006. Late last month, Hezbollah said it shot down an Israel drone flying over a village in southern Lebanon.
Israel considers Hezbollah its most serious immediate threat, estimating it has some 150,000--200,000 rockets and missiles aimed at Israel. Hezbollah is an arm of Iran. They see Israel as weak now and Lebanon has no government, the perfect time for them to strike.
IDF says matter ‘being handled with all relevant parties’; Israel aims to have UN peacekeepers remove tents placed over Blue Line, manned by terror operatives.
I must add that Ghajar's specialty dish is something dieters might enjoy, It's
almost vegan, but uses milk, Culinary specialties of Ghajar include a dish called mitabla, made of grains of wheat and corn cooked in milk, and bisara, a stew of bulgur, chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and fried onions thickened with flour. Bisara is usually served with a sauce of garlic and lemon. I guess if I were on the peace panel, we'd sit around and share recipes. I'm trying to follow somewhat the MIND diet mentioned on abc news; whole grains and beans are on that diet.
Resource;
AP News on border
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/hezbollahs-dilemmas/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Michel-Aoun
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghajar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krnLr6SMWCQ mentioned in comments
