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| By: Associated Press |
| Published: January 4, 2006 |
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The Israeli Shin Bet security agency has recommended building a wall through an Arab community located along the Lebanese border to prevent attacks by Lebanese terrorists, officials said Tuesday.
The construction of the barrier along the U.N.-recognized border would divide the Israeli-controlled town of Ghajar in half, requiring most of the 2,000 residents to move to the southern side, town residents said.
The town of Alawite Arabs - the Muslim sect Syrian President Bashar Assad belongs to - was captured from Syria along with the Golan Heights in the 1967 Mideast war and residents were granted Israeli citizenship. The border with Lebanon, redrawn by the United Nations after Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000, runs right through the town.
Although residents of the farming community can move freely within its limits, the town is surrounded by mine fields, Israeli army checkpoints at its southern entrance and bases of the Hezbollah terror group on its northern outskirts.
Ghajar has been the frequent target of Lebanese militias, most recently last month when Israeli soldiers and militants exchanged heavy gunfire in the town.
According to the Shin Bet proposal, residents forced to move south of the wall would be compensated with property on the Israeli side. But most Ghajar residents oppose the idea, saying Israel must negotiate with the United Nations for the border to go around the town, not through it. |
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