"Sources said all sides have made the final arrangements for the Israeli pullout from the northern part of Ghajar," the paper said.
In late March a tripartite meeting between Lebanese, Israeli and UN officials was held at the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). The meeting focused on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, adopted at the end the 2006 conflict between Israel and the Lebanon-based Hezbollah group. Among other things, the resolution envisages the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanese territory.
The sides also discussed the problem of Ghajar and violations of the "blue line," a boundary drawn up by the UN shortly after Israel's withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.
In his latest speech on the implementation of the resolution, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel to speed up the withdrawal of its troops from the northern part of Ghajar, in accordance with UN demands and on the basis of the UNIFIL plan.
According to the plan, UN "blue helmets" should assume control over northern Ghajar following Israel's pullout.
The mostly Alawite village of Ghajar was occupied by Israel in 1967 when it captured Syria's Golan Heights. Most of the inhabitants later took Israeli citizenship, but the village expanded north after Israel's 1978 occupation of southern Lebanon. Israeli troops left the northern section during the 2000 pullout from southern Lebanon, but re-occupied it during the 2006 conflict.
In March 2007, the Israeli government announced its pullout from the town by the end of 2008, but said in November 2008 that the withdrawal had been delayed.
