GHAJAR, Golan Heights - Israel's foreign minister on Wednesday visited an Arab village cut in half by an international border and insisted it will remain under Israeli control.
A border drawn by the U.N. in 2000 splits the village of Ghajar between Lebanon and the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Mideast war and later annexed. There is no fence through the town and it is effectively controlled by Israel despite the murky legal situation.
Talking to reporters at the sensitive village, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman ruled out handing it over. "There is no arrangement here. All of Ghajar is under Israeli sovereignty," he said. "Therefore there will be no concessions here, not to Lebanon and not to Syria."
He noted that Ghajar's residents have taken Israeli citizenship, unlike most other residents of the Golan Heights.
Lebanese media have reported that the U.N. has suggested posting its south Lebanon peace force, UNIFIL, in the village along with one Lebanese soldier to symbolize sovereignty. Lieberman acknowledged that there were suggestions from the U.N. without providing details.
Lieberman said, "I hope we will make the just and good decisions eventually."
Most of the village's 2,000 residents, who are from the small Alawite sect of Islam, have said in the past that they want the village to remain united, regardless of who controls it.
