Israeli warplanes over fly southern Lebanon

08/04/2001| IslamWeb

SHEBAA, Lebanon, (Islamweb & Agencies) - Israeli planes over flew southern Lebanon on Monday, following night flights over the area and shelling into the disputed border area of the Shebaa Farms.
The fighter-bombers flew at medium altitude over the coastal city of Tyre, some 80 kilometers (50 miles) south of Beirut, and nearby villages.
The jets then headed eastward to swoop over the Bent Jbeil and Nabatiyeh districts. During the night, Israeli warplanes had patrolled the south until dawn as far as Tyre.
Also overnight, Israeli tanks opened fire on the Lebanese side of the disputed Shebaa Farms, part of which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, without causing casualties.
In Lebanese territory, the shells hit Seddana, a hill to the southwest of the village of Shebba, and the Bastara farm.
The United Nations has called for Israel several times to stop trespassing into Lebanese airspace, counting the forays as violations of the UN-certified "blue line" or border between the two countries, since Israel ended its 22-year occupation of south Lebanon in May 2000.
PHOTO CAPTION:
An Israeli occupation army officer walks on a recently built road in the disputed area of Chebaa farms at the border with Lebanon Thursday July 19, 2001. The disputed swath of uninhabited land, some 10 square kilometers where Israel has seen three of its soldiers killed and three others kidnapped in the last year and already has spent heavily to lay landmines and build new roads, fences and outposts, sits on the difficult intersection of Lebanon, Israel and Syria. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
- Jul 19 6:28 PM ET