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| UNIFIL soldier impotently waving a UN flag |
Some claimed that Israel was responsible because they crossed the security fence to cut down the tree, an act constituting a violation of UN resolution 1701. It was therefore within the rights of the Lebanese army to fire at the Israelis. Others claimed that the tree was in Israeli territory and therefore there was no violation of resolution 1701 by Israel.
This brings up a few questions:
1) What is the relationship between the blue line and the security fence? Is the security fence located along the exact same path of the blue line?
2) If the two diverge, is the entirety of the security fence within Israeli territory? Are some parts of it in Lebanese territory?
3) Who built the security fence and when did they build it?
4) Again, if the two are not perfectly aligned, are there markings (posts, flags, etc.) to indicate where the blue line runs? If not, then how is the Lebanese army/IDF/UNIFIL able to tell with certainty if a given tree is one one side or the other of the blue line at a glance without using sophisticated technology?
5) Is the space between the fence and the blue line (assuming there is such a space) some sort of demilitarized zone? If so, what are the rules governing the rights of either party if the opposing party enters this zone?
All reports I've seen on this incident have been very vague on the issue of the blue line/security fence. Those blaming Israel seem to be claiming that the fence IS the blue line, and the those defending Israel seem to be claiming that the blue line (at least in the area of the fighting yesterday) is farther north of the fence.
Unless the questions above are addressed, and unless there is a consensus on the answers, the accusations will continue to fly with none bearing any weight.
The series of events that lead to the fighting are, for the most part, not in dispute. So what remains is for the UN to declare that the IDF either crossed into Lebanese territory or it didn't (or, in the case of the demilitarized zone theory, was it within Israel's rights to cross into the zone), which would decide the whole thing.