KFAR CHOUBA, Lebanon (Dispatches) – Zionist troops fired tear gas to disperse scores of protesters along Lebanon’s border Friday, leaving some Lebanese demonstrators and troops suffering breathing problems.
The tension on the edge of the Lebanese border village of Kfar Chouba began earlier this week over the Zionist regime’s digging in the area that belongs to Lebanon.
On Wednesday, a Lebanese villager tried to stop a Zionist bulldozer from digging a trench along the border. Once the villager’s legs were covered with sand as the bulldozer moved ahead, UN peacekeepers jumped in and convinced the driver to move back. Videos of the elderly man with his legs stuck in the sand dune went viral on social media.
The Zionist regime ended an 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon when its troops withdrew from the area in May 2000.
Friday’s protest took place on the edge of Kfar Chouba hills, which is Lebanese land occupied by the Zionist regime. Kfar Chouba hills and the nearby Shebaa Farms, are areas occupied by the Zionist regime during the 1967 Mideast War and claimed by Lebanon.
On Friday, some of the protesters tried to break through a fence in the rugged area overlooked by a Zionist military post. Zionist troops fired tear gas to disperse them while Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers later moved in and pushed the protesters back.
Lebanese troops were on alert in the area and reinforcements were brought in.
Andrea Tenenti, a spokesman for the UN peacekeeping for known as UNIFIL, said peacekeepers are on the ground working to decrease tension in the area.
“We have urged the parties to utilize our coordination mechanisms effectively to prevent misunderstandings, violations, and contribute to the preservation of stability in the area,” Tenenti said. He added that UNIFIL leadership is in contact with the parties, seeking a solution.
The protesters later held Friday prayers in the area and then tried to go back to the protest site again.