"Israeli" troops pretend a withdrawal as they play hide & seek among Ghajar town homes

Source: Daily Star, 5-12-2006
SOUTH LEBANON: The "Israeli" Army continued to occupy the Lebanese border village of Ghajar on Monday, despite approval over the weekend by the "Israeli" Cabinet of a complete withdrawal from the area, UNIFIL spokesman Milos Strugar said. As of Monday evening UN peacekeepers had not deployed in the area, Strugar said.
"UNIFIL is holding talks with both the Lebanese and `Israeli` sides to ease the withdrawal of `Israeli` troops from the village as soon as possible," Strugar said in a statement.
"The situation in Ghajar is still the same so far ... the `Israeli` Army is still there," he said.
"Israeli" troops remained in the northern half of Ghajar after October 1, when their countrymen withdrew from the rest of Lebanon following the Jewish (Zionist) state`s July-August war on its neighbor to the north. Ghajar, which is split down the middle by the Lebanese-Syrian border, has been occupied in its entirety by "Israel" since 1967.
A source close to UNIFIL said Saturday that a meeting of "Israeli" and Lebanese military officials might take place Tuesday to settle the issue of Ghajar.
Strugar would neither confirm nor deny such a meeting.
Meanwhile, "Israel`s" Ynetnews Web site reported the surprise of the residents of the northern half of Ghajar to the "Israeli" government`s decision to allow a UNIFIL deployment there.
"We have been living without a mother or father for almost seven years," Najib Hatib, the village`s secretary, said.
"Who will take care of bringing food to the babies? Who will take care of repairing electricity and phone problems?" he asked.
"Two residents have already paid with their lives after suffering from a heart attack, when the ambulance was not allowed to enter the northern part of the village ... Animals are treated better than Ghajar residents," he said.
Another resident told Ynet that conditions in the village had become intolerable. "Some 120 Knesset members were elected eight months ago, and the village residents went to the voting stations to vote for them. Today no one cares about us ... Hizbullah was not and is not in the northern part of the village," the resident, who was not identified, said.
"We are not threatened, and we just want to live like any other citizen. Our children are suffering from anxieties. How would a child in Tel Aviv or in Haifa feel if he would wake up every morning, and on the way to school he would see tanks, concrete and soldiers on every corner? It`s simply a nightmare," the resident said.
As "Israeli" patrols toured Ghajar Monday, UNIFIL`s Spanish battalion sent patrols to west Ghajar while Indian troops deployed patrols along a sand barrier between Ghajar and Abbassiyeh.
"Israeli" tanks were also seen moving from the eastern side of Ghajar toward "Israel".
A second source close to UNIFIL told The Daily Star that when the peacekeeping force deploys in the area, it will enter the village from the eastern side of the Marjayoun area of Wazzani.