Israel to compensate residents of Lebanese Ghajar for Second Lebanon War
Houses in the northern side of the border village were destroyed in battles with Hezbollah; residents hold Israeli citizenship
Israel will compensate residents of the border village of Ghajar whose homes were damaged in the Second Lebanon War, even though the damaged houses are under the sovereignty of Lebanon, Israel Radio reported Thursday morning.
The village straddles the Israel-Lebanon border, with half of it under Israeli control.
The decision to compensate the villagers was made after discussions between the Finance and Defense ministries.
Israel originally captured Ghajar from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War, and annexed it along with the Golan Heights in 1981. When Israel withdrew from Lebanon in 2000, the United Nations placed the border in the middle of the village, with Israel controlling the southern part of the village and Lebanon the north.
During the second Lebanon War in 2006, Hezbollah took over the northern half of the village and used it to launch rockets into Israel.
Israel was able to drive Hezbollah out of Ghajar during the war and controlled the entire village. UN Resolution 1701, which ended the 33-day war, demanded Israel withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar.
The residents of the houses destroyed in the battles between Hezbollah and Israel hold Israeli citizenship, even though they are under Lebanese sovereignty, so they turned to the Israeli government for compensation, Israel Radio reported.