The Israeli Cabinet approved on principle an IDF withdrawal from part of the Lebanese border village of Ghajar, against the wishes of residents and warnings that Hizbullah will take over.

The IDF will pull its forces out of the northern part of the village, a focal point of tension between Hizbullah and Israel. It also is a transit point for drugs, a major source of income for the Hizbullah terrorist organization and political party.

No date was set for the withdrawal. The United Nations has been pressuring Israel for years to withdraw from the northern half of the village, arguing that it is not part of Israel according to the international “Blue Line” borders that it has drawn.

The Security Cabinet authorized the Foreign Ministry to complete the details of the new arrangement that is supposed to maintain the “security of Israel's citizens and the normal life of the residents of Ghajar." The final agreement will be brought to the Security Cabinet for approval before it is implemented.

United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon troops (UNIFIL) are supposed to fill the void to be left by the IDF, but the forces have failed to fulfill their mandate to disarm Hizbullah and keep it from dominating southern Lebanon, as agreed in the U.N. ceasefire resolution 1701 agreed to by the Olmert government in 2006  and negotiated by then-foreign minister Tzippi Livni to end the Second Lebanon War.