Israeli cabinet approves pullout from Lebanon border village
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An Israeli inner cabinet on Wednesday approved pulling out its military forces from the northern part of the controversial village of Ghajar situated directly on the Lebanese border.
The Political-Security Cabinet voted in favor of the plan, but short of declaring when to withdraw, local news service Ynet reported.
The village came under Israeli control when the Israeli army raided Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) positions in Lebanon in 1978. In 2000, following the Israeli Defense Forces' withdrawal from south Lebanon, the UN drew the international border between the two countries through the middle of the village.
Since then, Israeli forces have only been allowed entrance to the village's southern end, while the Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah maintained a small presence on its northern side. In the second Lebanon war in 2006, the IDF ousted Hezbollah and regained control of the village's northern end.
UN Resolution 1701, which ended the war, requires Israel to end all its military operations north of the border and withdraw from the village.
Israel has recently shared its plan to withdraw with the commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), according to local reports.
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