Israeli settlers, escorted by the military, visited a religious site (Qabr al-Ibad) today, located within Lebanese territory on the outskirts of southern Lebanon’s Houla. The Israeli army had announced the planned visit a day earlier, and nearly 250 settlers illegally made their way into Lebanon.

The Lebanese Army was quick to condemn this clear violation of Lebanon’s sovereignty and is following up on the issue in coordination with the Five-Party Committee overseeing the ceasefire agreement and the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

This is not the first time Israel has tried to claim this site under religious pretexts. In 1972, the first Israeli documentation emerged, claiming that the site was ‘sacred’ to Jews, by Israeli researcher Tzvi Ilan. Then, during the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon (1982-2000), a military site was established on the hill, and visits by religious settlers to the tomb became regular, under military cover. They even managed to renovate the site during the last Israeli offensive on Lebanon in 2024. [Source]

This site is clearly within Lebanese territory, and it is by no means a point of contention. We must stand behind the Lebanese Army and the Lebanese state to settle this once and for all and forbid any infiltration into Lebanese soil.

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