Israel Removes Disputed Kfarshouba Lookout Post
Israeli soldiers moved in at dawn on Monday to dismantle an observation post in a disputed border area occupied by Israel and claimed by Lebanon, security officials in Beirut said.
They said the Israeli troops took down the lookout post set up last month in the Kfarshouba hills in southeast Lebanon, but that sandbags on the site were not removed.
A month ago, dozens of Lebanese protesters briefly took over the unmanned post and hoisted Lebanese and Hizbullah flags before being asked by U.N. peacekeepers to leave the area.
Shortly afterwards three Israeli tanks approached and soldiers were seen removing the flags.
The observation post is in the Kfarshouba hills just outside the disputed Shebaa Farms — a sliver of land rich in water resources located at the junction of southeast Lebanon, southwest Syria and north Israel.
Israel seized the Shebaa Farms from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war when it captured the neighboring Golan Heights which it later annexed.
The area has since been caught in a tug-of-war over ownership, with Israel and the United Nations saying they are part of Syria, while Damascus and Beirut insist the territory is Lebanese.