Pretexts

The United Nations has once again seen fit to give Hizbullah a "start a major conflict card" with Israel because it's decided to readjust its position on the border situation in Sheba Farms. Israel won the Golan Heights during the Six Day War against Syria, and Hizbullah has long claimed that the area known as Sheba Farms is really Lebanese territory.

The long-disputed farms were not returned to Lebanon during the 2000 pullout after Israel insisted the farms were claimed by Syria. Israel then said that only as part of a peace deal with Syria, which would potentially include returning part or all of the Golan Heights, would it consider returning the Sheba Farms to Syria.

The source said Israel rejected a request by the UN to be in control of the Sheba Farms until the dispute was resolved.

The cartographer, meanwhile, has moved to Jerusalem to continue his work, and a UN official denied that a demand from Israel to rescind control of the territory has been made.

Reportedly, Syria and Lebanon agreed that the Sheba Farms was Lebanese territory.

The confusion regarding the ownership of the farms dates back to the partition of the French mandate territory during the period between the two world wars that shaped the borders of Syria and Lebanon.

Ah, the decisions made long ago by Europeans comes back to bite everyone hard. The French split up the area ceded to it during the breakup of the Ottoman Empire into two countries that had never existed prior to their creation, and the Syrians long consider Lebanon to be part of its sphere of influence. Carl in Jerusalem has the details.

Hizbullah has long used the Sheba Farms situation as a pretext for its ongoing war against Israel, claiming that Israel continues to occupy Lebanese territory. While the US and EU are pressuring Israel to concede the area to Lebanon, all it does is further increase pressure on Israel to make concessions on other areas, despite the fact that they are getting nothing in return. Hizbullah continues to agitate and reassert dominance in South Lebanon even though UNIFIL is supposed to disarm all militias in Lebanon and keep the border area clear of armed militias.

This also has the effect of throwing yet another monkey wrench in to any possible deal between Israel and Syria that Olmert may be working on. Why the UN would make this move now is curious at best, and that a cartographer's judgment can form the basis for a renewed conflict between Hizbullah and Israel should be troubling for the diplomats. Did they not consider the fact that with such a disputed history of the area in question, the current disposition was the proper course of action at the moment.

China, meanwhile, is pushing for Syrian control over the Golan. China's voracious appetite for oil is a big reason, and it tends to deal with the most unsavory types around the world, including Sudan, Niger, Iran, and will look the other way when those regimes engage in all kinds of abuses.

The IDF saying that a war with Syria this summer is unforeseeable does not mean it will come to pass that way. Facts and circumstances can change quite quickly and Syria's machinations in Lebanon are not going to improve the situation either. This report notes that a serious disagreement could spark a conflict. Heck, 200 suicide bomb belts were found in a Syrian truck inside Iraq. What do you think the Assad regime is doing inside Lebanon? They're not passing out flowers and candies, that's for sure. They do not have pure intentions, but instead seek to reassert control.

The Lebanese military continues fighting Fatah al Islam, and one Lebanese soldier was killed by a Fatah al Islam sniper. It now appears that the Lebanese military may actually begin entering the Palestinian camp at Nahr al-Bared to clear it of remaining terrorists.

The Palestinians continue firing mortars at or near Israeli positions, including Gaza crossings. That's going to surely improve the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza [ed: sarcasm alert]

They've also detonated explosives along the border with Egypt, and Egypt has sent additional forces to the area.

UPDATE:
More UN fecklessness: Meryl Yourish points out that UN officials think that Israel is behind the increased tensions, not Iranian or Syrian statements and actions. Once again, the UN has its blinders on.

UPDATE:
If this can be confirmed, it's yet another reason to prevent a single dollar from heading to any of the Palestinians, whether Fatah, the Palestinian Authority, or Hamas: Hizbullah appears to have taken over Fatah's al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade, though they remain allied with Fatah for the moment.