UN Mediates Israeli-Hezbollah Tent Dispute Amidst Beirut's Demands

The UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon relayed an Israeli request to remove a Hezbollah tent set up in Israeli territory, but Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati and Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri ignored the request and instead demanded control over the contested Ghajar hamlet along the border. Ghajar, an Alawite-majority settlement, was captured by Israel in 1967 and effectively annexed in 1981. The village was split in two after the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, and Israel regained control over the entire village during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. The US has reportedly intervened in the matter, suggesting that Hezbollah dismantle the remaining tent in return for a halt to the barrier Israel is building around Ghajar.