Israeli troops detain olive harvester near the village of Deir Mimas in southern Lebanon

Detention during the harvest

Israeli forces opened fire near a group of residents and detained one of them as they were harvesting olives on the outskirts of Deir Mimas in southern Lebanon on Friday, the village mayor, Tania Barnaba, told The National. According to her, the group was working in an area declared closed, after which Israeli troops set up a checkpoint on the outskirts of the village, blocking further access to the groves. The army had previously warned residents against entering the area, which covers more than half of the village's olive groves, but people kept trying to bring in the harvest:

The village inside the 'yellow line'

Deir Mimas depends almost entirely on olive growing and olive oil production — the main source of income for many residents. Barnaba said residents were informed that the village lies inside Israel's 'yellow line', which separates the Israeli-occupied areas of southern Lebanon, where troops restrict civilian access, from zones under the control of the Lebanese state. 'We found out that we are inside the yellow line. We don't know how or why. No one came to mark it,' the mayor noted. She said the village's status became known after an incident in mid-September: on 18 September, Israeli troops approached a new Lebanese army observation post on the outskirts of the village and threw stun grenades nearby, after which the army withdrew to its main post in the town itself. At the time, a source in the Lebanese security services said: 'The coordinates of the yellow line seem to change every day.' The Lebanese post was set up to accompany residents when inspecting their farmland, but, according to Barnaba, the Lebanese army is no longer present in the village.

Context: the 'mobile yellow line'

The incident highlights the difficulties facing residents of the few villages still inhabited inside or near Israel's so-called 'security zone' — a territory about 10–12 km deep occupied by Israeli forces. The National previously documented the gradual expansion of Israeli control in southern Lebanon, which military analysts call the 'mobile yellow line'; in September the outlet also reported, citing UNIFIL, on 30 Israeli military positions in southern Lebanon,eight of which are fortified bases. Deir Mimas falling inside the line means residents have lost access to their main farmland and, in effect, to their primary source of income, while the boundaries of the zone, according to the Lebanese source, continue to change.