Report: Israel Warned Lebanon Ahead of Land Day Protest
Israel has warned Lebanese authorities against a march by protestors to areas bordering the Jewish state on Land Day to mark the loss of Arab lands in the Galilee, Israeli daily Haaretz reported Sunday.
“Israel has asked Lebanon, using intermediaries, to stop its residents from approaching the Israeli border on Friday as part of Land Day protests,” the newspaper said.
“The forum of eight senior cabinet ministers will consider security preparations in Israel and the West Bank when they meet” on Sunday, it said.
Haaretz added that protests are expected in the Gaza Strip, near the Erez border crossing, and at West Bank sites such as the Qalandiyah checkpoint, north of Jerusalem.
However, the protest in Lebanon is worrying Israel most given that ten protesters were killed and 112 others wounded when a crowd of thousands of Palestinian refugees came under fire from Israeli troops near the Lebanese border town of Maroun al-Ras during a Nakba Day rally in May last year.
The Israeli warning came despite the announcement that the Land Day celebrations by pro-Syrian Lebanese parties and Palestinian factions will take place at the Beaufort, or Shqeef, Castle in Nabatiyeh next Friday.
Abdul Malek Sukkariyeh, the media coordinator of the rally, announced that the Lebanese army had officially permitted the staging of the event.
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