Lebanese troops prevented a group of Hizbullah supporters from holding a demonstration on the Israel-Lebanon border near the Fatma crossing on Wednesday. Forces stopped several buses each carrying some 100 Hizbullah activists that were traveling towards the border. Witnesses reported that the Lebanese troops blocked the route to the border with armored vehicles and, after an hour of negotiations with the Hizbullah supporters, | “Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered an 'aggressive IDF posture' along the border and instructed Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz not to allow Hizbullah to hold demonstrations along the frontier...” |
When the IDF completed its withdrawal from southern Lebanon before Yom Kippur, Defense Minister Amir Peretz ordered an 'aggressive IDF posture' along the border and instructed Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz not to allow Hizbullah to hold demonstrations along the frontier. Last week, Halutz said he would allow soldiers to open fire at rock-throwing Hizbullah supporters along the Blue Line, the UN-demarcated border with Lebanon. It was the first time the Lebanese army had stopped a demonstration on the border since Halutz granted this permission to IDF troops.