The
official spoke on condition of anonymity because Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu won't present the proposal to UN chief Ban Ki-moon until Monday.
Details of the plan were not released, though Israel clearly would like
assurances that fighters of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah won't be able to gain
a foothold there from which to threaten cross-border attacks.
An
Israeli withdrawal could also set the stage for more tension between Lebanese
Prime Minister Saad Hariri's Western-backed political bloc and its Hezbollah
rivals, who have extended their political influence in Hariri's shaky coalition
government and maintain the country's strongest military arsenal.
Hariri's
allies would likely use the pullout to argue that Hezbollah no longer needs its
weapons and that disputed land can be regained with the help of the
international community instead. Hezbollah, which refuses to disarm, is already
saying its military power would be to thank for any Israeli pullout.
The
political director of the UN force in Lebanon, Milos Strugar, said the force
has been “actively engaged with both parties” in an effort to facilitate an
Israeli withdrawal from the area.
Ghajar
sits on a strategic corner where the boundaries between Syria, Israel and
Lebanon are in dispute.
Israel
captured the entire village of some 2,000 people from Syria in 1967.
