A United Nations spokesman on Thursday denied Israeli accusations that Lebanon was diverting a key river, the Wazzani, to stop it flowing into Israel, said reports.
“The workers are building a four-inch pipe to carry water from the Wazzani river to a poor village lacking water. You don’t divert a river with a pipe so small,” Timour Goksel, spokesman for the UN Interim Forces in southern Lebanon (Unifil), was quoted as saying.
“In any case, when work started on February 20 we had informed the Israeli army that Unifil would be providing security to the workers and they were fully aware of what the work was about,” he said.
“I really don’t know why it became a story today. I am a bit puzzled,” he said.
Meanwhile, The Jerusalem Post reported Friday that Israel is working through third parties to try and ascertain the exact nature of the work being done on the river, as diplomatic officials on Thursday sought to downplay fears that Lebanon is trying to divert the river.
At a meeting of the Israeli Foreign Ministry's directorate, voices were raised saying that the incident was blown out of proportion, and that it is not clear that the work being done on the river either harms Israel's water needs or is an attempt to divert the river.
Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said in New York that in principle Israel cannot tolerate a situation where water is being diverted from it, but that it is not clear that this is the situation on the river, and that the situation is being monitored.
Israel has not lodged a formal complaint on the matter with the UN, said the Post – Albawaba.com
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