[Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center] Recently, Hizbullah international relations official Nawaf al-Moussawi again raised the issue of the so-called "seven villages," disputing the legitimacy of the Israel-Lebanon international border and the "blue line" (the line agreed upon by the UN and Israel following the IDF's pullout from the security zone on May 23, 2000). The seven villages were Shi'ite villages abandoned during Israel's War of Independence (1948). They were situated inside Israeli territory, south of the international border, in areas populated now by Israeli villages. The international border was the result of an agreement reached in 1923 demarcating the line between the British mandate in Palestine and the French mandate in Syria and Lebanon. While the Lebanese government accepts the reality that emerged with the signing of the Armistice Agreement in March 23, 1949, Hizbullah uses the issue of the seven villages to create further justification for the existence of its military force and for the continuation of its terrorist and guerrilla activities ("the resistance").
2008-11-21 01:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive