DEMARCATING SHABA FARMS

Demarcating Shaba Farms (BackSpin)

A report by Ban Ki-moon finally defined the precise area of Shaba Farms (a.k.a. Har Dov) on the basis of expert cartographers. According to Haaretz, the Israeli government is pleased with the results:

Although the report issued Wednesday criticizes Israel for continued violations of Lebanon's airspace, and failure to provide all the data on the locations of cluster bomb attacks, it does not require Israel to enter separate negotiations on the fate of the Shaba Farms, or to surrender the area to the UN. . . .

Israel is particularly pleased that the secretary general included in the report that the issue of the Shaba Farms "cannot be separated from the principles and elements required for the permanent cease-fire and long-term solution identified in resolution 1701 (2006)."