TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 13 (UPI) -- United Nations peacekeepers are marking, once again, the boundary separating Lebanon and Israel, UNIFIL's spokesman Milos Strugar said.
The boundary, known as the Blue Line, was initially marked in 2000 when the Israeli army withdrew from southern Lebanon. Some of the markers were destroyed or disappeared so the U.N. teams are returning to those same spots, Strugar said.
The U.N. International Force in Lebanon has placed 143 or 144 markers in the area.
The United Nations considers the Blue Line as the line to which the Israeli troops had to withdraw in May 2000 in order to comply with a U.N. Security Council decision that required them to leave Lebanon.
Once they were south of it, the U.N. confirmed Israel had complied with the Security Council's decision.
This does not necessarily mean that the line is the international border. It was marked "without any prejudice to a future agreement" between the two countries," Strugar said.
In some places such markings are very important because Israel built its border fence up to 60 meters south of the Blue Line. It has been sending forces across the fence to look for mines and unless the line is marked, or is clear to all in the area, Israeli troops might mistakenly be perceived as having crossed the border.
