"Israel stealing Lebanon's water and earth"

The Lebanese government considers filing a complaint with the UN Security Council over Israel's failure to pull out from southern Lebanon, a top military official told AFP on Thursday.

"The Lebanese government is looking into filing a complaint with the Security Council over Israel's violations of and failure to comply with the terms of Resolution 1701," the official said on condition of anonymity.

"Israel is not pulling out, it is altering the border fence, stealing our water in Wazzani and our earth near Khiam. They are violating our airspace," he added.

UN Resolution 1701, which imposed a ceasefire that ended 34-days of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah on August 14, calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah, the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from southern Lebanon, and the deployment of 15,000 Lebanese soldiers to be backed by an equal number of UN peacekeepers.

Since the implementation of the truce, UNIFIL has been boosted to 5,000 forces and Lebanese forces have been deploying in the border area, in line with Resolution 1701 and Israel's conditions for its full withdrawal.

But Israel halted its pullout, and UNIFIL officials say the Israeli army still occupies 10 positions in southern Lebanon.

The Israeli government claims that it delayed the full withdrawal, which was initially scheduled to be completed last Friday, because it hasn't yet reached an agreement with UNIFIL on the rules of engagement for the peacekeepers and the Lebanese army in case of violations of the ceasefire.

"Lebanon keeps filing complaints to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). They are now in the dozens,

"UNIFIL are saying that they are investigating the matters" But experience tells us that the Israelis never do anything without being forced to do it. It will probably need Security Council action, or else if the situation persists, there will be a lot more problems later on, he added.

UNIFIL officials said recent talks between Israeli and Lebanese military officials to set a deadline for the Israeli withdrawal were "inconclusive".

"Nothing is planned for this week," a UNIFIL official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Unacceptable

Instead of withdrawing, Israeli occupation forces built a barbed-wire fence close to Israel's border with Lebanon. They also erected checkpoints in southern Lebanese villages to search cars and check passengers' identities.

"The Israeli troops are erecting checkpoints, stopping people as well as Lebanese and foreign journalists," the top Lebanese military official told AFP.

"This is not acceptable, these are part of provocations and pressures by the Israelis to negotiate security measures and rules of engagement,

"Hezbollah is not out there with arms, the Israelis know that Hezbollah is committed to the terms of Resolution 1701," he added.

The Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah agreed to abide by the UN-brokered truce but has refused to disarm until Israel ends its occupation of Lebanon and Lebanese troops take control over their country.

The Lebanese military official also said that the Israelis "are looking for justifications, they probably want to negotiate security arrangements or in the issue of the prisoners' exchange" But we will not compromise on anything outside the scope of Resolution 1701,

Meanwhile, Israel's Defense Minister Amir Peretz said that Israeli warplanes would continue to violate Lebanon's airspace even after Israel completes its withdrawal from the war-torn country.

He told Channel 10 television the flights would continue until the release of the two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah fighters on July 12.

UNIFIL has repeatedly denounced Israel for its illegal violations of Lebanese airspace over the six years that followed its withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.