‘Israeli military violates Lebanon’s land, airspace’

An Israeli infantry force has illegally entered Lebanon, while Israeli reconnaissance planes again violated the country’s airspace. According to Lebanese television, Al-Manar, the Israeli ground force reached the banks of Wazzani River on Wednesday after crossing the electric fence on the southern Lebanese border, with some troops taking up combat positions and pointing their machineguns at the Lebanese territory. The troops withdrew shortly after Lebanese Army sent patrols in the area to monitor the movements of the Israeli forces. Earlier in the day, Israeli reconnaissance planes violated Lebanon's airspace and flew over the country in violation of a UN Security Council resolution The Lebanese Army issued a statement, saying that the incursion had occurred over the country's southern border at 9:30 a.m. (local time) on Wednesday. The Israeli planes maneuvered over the area until about 10:40 a.m. (local time) before leaving Lebanon's airspace, the statement added. Israel violates Lebanon's airspace on an almost daily basis, claiming that the flights serve surveillance purposes. Lebanon's government, the Lebanese resistance movement of Hezbollah, and the UN Interim Forcein Lebanon (UNIFIL) have repeatedly condemned the overflights, saying they are in clear violation of the UN Resolution 1701 and the country's sovereignty. The resolution, which brokered a ceasefire in the war of aggression, Israel launched against Lebanon in 2006, calls on Tel Aviv to respect the country'ssovereignty and territorial integrity. The war killed around 1,200 Lebanese. Most of the victims were civilians. In 2009, Lebanon filed a complaint with the UN, presenting over 7,000 documents pertaining to Israeli violations of the Lebanese territory.