Iranian Delegation in Maroun al-Ras as Army Disperses 2 Naksa Day Demos
The clashes of the Nakba Day at Maroun al-Ras were averted on Sunday as the Lebanese army prevented demonstrations, commemorating the Naksa Day, from being held, reported the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat on Monday.
The army succeeded in imposing its authority over the entire region south of the Litani River, prohibiting Palestinian and Lebanese demonstrators from heading to the southern border.
It had however prevented a group of 12 Lebanese and Palestinians who had reached the town of al-Adeisseh from heading any further to the border fence, taking them instead to a region north of the Litani.
Meanwhile, Iranian Ambassador to Lebanon Ghazanfar Rokn-Abadi, accompanied by former head of the Iranian Shura Council Gholam-Ali Haddad-Adel, headed to Maroun al-Ras where he delivered a speech of support for the Resistance.
They then headed to Kfar Kila, amid heavy security presence, to inspect Iran-funded projects.
They concluded their tour at Khiyam before returning to Beirut.
In the southern town of Shabaa, some 20 residents staged a demonstration by the occupied Shabaa Farms, demanding the Palestinians’ right to return to their homeland.
On the other side of the border, the Israeli army deployed along the border of the eastern sector, and the Shabaa Farms in particular.
They were accompanied by Merkava tanks, armored vehicles, and overflights of surveillance planes.
Meanwhile, shops were closed in Lebanon's 12 Palestinian refugee camps on Sunday, where black flags of mourning were hoisted, as the army reinforced its presence, particularly in the south.
A rally was staged in front of al-Furqan mosque in the Borj al-Barajneh camp in Beirut’s southern suburbs and a photography exhibition was organized on a pavement adjacent to the Mar Elias camp in the capital Beirut.
Palestinians also staged popular rallies in the Shatila camp, in Beirut’s southern suburbs, and in the Nahr al-Bared camp in the North.
Lebanese and Palestinian activists had planned to protest at the border with Israel to commemorate Naksa Day, but Lebanon's army banned any gatherings at the frontier, fearing a repeat of last month's violence on the anniversary of Israel's 1948 creation.
On May 15, clashes between protesters and Israeli soldiers left six dead on the Lebanese border and four more in the Golan Heights at the ceasefire line between Syria and the Jewish state.
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