BEIRUT, Lebanon, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- The Israeli government said it agreed to a U.N. proposal to pull its forces out of the northern half of a village that sits on a U.N.-demarcated border.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee last year that he was discussing a withdrawal from the northern half of the village of Ghajar with the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.
Israeli forces took control over Ghajar during a 2006 war with Hezbollah. Israel had refused to leave without security arrangements that would prevent Hezbollah from launching another attack.
Spanish Maj. Gen. Alberto Cuevas, the commander of UNIFIL forces, said he was informed by Israeli military that the government accepted "in principle" to the U.N. peacekeeping's proposal to facilitate the withdrawal of the Israeli military from northern Ghajar.
"This is a long-standing matter and our position is very clear that Israel is obliged to withdraw from northern Ghajar and the adjacent area north of the (U.N.-demarcated) Blue Line, in accordance with U.N. Security Council Resolution 1701," said UNIFIL in a statement.
Resolution 1701 helped secure a cease-fire to the 2006 war between Hezbollah and Israel. It calls on Hezbollah to disarm, while reminding Israel of its obligations to respect Lebanon's sovereignty.
P.J. Crowley, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Washington welcomed the decision by the Israeli security Cabinet.
Washington, he said, encourages Israel to implement the proposal "rapidly" and honor its commitments under Resolution 1701.
