国际英语新闻：Israeli cabinet approves troop withdrawal from Lebanon border village

JERUSALEM, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet on Wednesday approved the withdrawal of military forces from the northern part of Ghajar, a village on the Lebanese border.

Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will withdraw its troops unilaterally and redeploy south of the Blue Line, a demarcation line drawn by the United Nations (UN) in 2000 to determine whether Israel had fully pulled out from Lebanon.

Following Wednesday's vote, the cabinet authorized Israeli Foreign Ministry to complete the details of a temporary arrangement in coordination with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), the UN force deployed across southern Lebanon, aimed at establishing security arrangements "as soon as possible," according to an official statement sent to Xinhua after the cabinet's vote.

"Both the security of Israel's citizens and the normal life of the residents of Ghajar, which remains undivided, will continue to be maintained while the new arrangements are being put in place," the statement read.

The withdrawal date will be determined in coordination with the UN. The final agreement will be brought to the security cabinet for further approval prior to its implementation, the statement said.

Ghajar came under Israeli control when the IDF raided Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) positions in Lebanon in 1978. In 2000, following the IDF's withdrawal from southern Lebanon, the UN set the demarcation line between Lebanon and Israel-controlled area in the middle of the village.

Since then, Israeli police and military troops have only been allowed entrance to the village's southern end, while Hezbollah maintained a small presence on its northern half. In the 2006 Lebanon war, the IDF ousted Hezbollah and reinstituted its presence in both parts.

UN Resolution 1701, passed in the aftermath of the 2006 war, requires Israel to end all its military operations north of the border and withdraw from the village.

According to a proposal of UNIFIL, the IDF will withdraw completely from the northern half of the village. UNIFIL will then oversee security and control access to the village from the Lebanese side, local daily Ha'aretz said Wednesday.