The Lebanese military is due to close off the border to Israel on Sunday to prevent a repeat of the clashes on Naksa Day of this year, according to Israeli Yet News. Lebanon has designated the border between Israeli and Lebanon a “closed military zone” in the run up to protests on June 5th as part of Naksa Day.
The army has made it clear that it will cooperate with UNIFIL forces on the ground to enforce the exclusion barrier.
Israel has threatened both Lebanon and Syria to prevent any repeat of the events of May 15th when thousands of Palestinian refugees marched from Lebanon and Syria to the Israeli border. 16 people were killed by Israeli live fire in an attempt to repel refugees who had succeeded in breaching the border.
According to JNet, al-Safir newspaper, who has ties to resistance group Hezbollah, has stated that Sundays march may be called off due to unprecedented pressure on the Lebanese government.
Palestinian activists are hoping that Sunday’s events will be part of the start of a third Palestinian Intifada. The marches have largely been organised through social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook however officials from Fatah and the Popular Resistance Committees are also involved.
