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In this photo released by the Israel Defense Force, IDF, Israeli soldiers walk along on a dirt road as they leave south Lebanon, Monday. (AP)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners August 15, 2006 |
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Israel has begun thinning out its troops, withdrawing from the key town of Marjayoun in southern Lebanon and nearby areas, and plans to hand over the first of its captured positions to the U.N.-supported Lebanese army on Wednesday, the army said.
The withdrawal from Marjayoun, located about eight miles, north of the Israeli border began Monday, the day a cease-fire in Hezbollah-Israeli fighting went into effect.
By Tuesday, there were no Israeli soldiers or tanks in Marjayoun, the security officials confirmed, speaking on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to give information to the media.
Israeli troops also were pulling out of Bourj Al-Mulouk, a town on the road halfway between Israel and Marjayoun in the frontier's eastern sector. But soldiers remained in nearby Qleia.
Israeli troops also abandoned El-Ghandourieh, their farthest reach into Lebanon. Israeli commandos had leapfrogged to that point about 10 miles from the Israeli border by helicopter last week in the final push before a cease-fire took effect.
Israel hopes to complete the evacuation of its forces from Lebanon by next week, army officials said Tuesday, ending the military operation against Hezbollah guerrillas that began July 12 and left much of south Lebanon a wasteland.
Israeli forces occupied Marjayoun last Thursday as they pushed deep into Lebanon in the final days of the fighting. The area is largely Christian and Hezbollah has little support there. But it is on high ground, with strategic value overlooking both the Israeli border and the Litani River valley.
Compromise with Lebanon would let Hezbollah keep weapons hidden
Lebanon plans to deploy 15,000 of its soldiers on the north side of the Litani River by the end of this week, its defense minister said Monday.
The current U.N. peacekeeping force of 2,000 soldiers would assume positions vacated by Israel before handing them over to the Lebanese army, Elias Murr told Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. television. He expects international troops to begin arriving within the next 10 days.
The minister also said that when the Lebanese army deploys south of the Litani, "there will be no other weapons or military presence other than the army."
Still, the army would not ask Hezbollah to hand over its weapons, because the matter should be solved through a national dialogue, Murr told Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. television.
A compromise agreement now being hammered out between Hezbollah and the Lebanese government would allow the Shi'ite guerillas to keep hidden weapons in south Lebanon, the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported on Tuesday.
While Hezbollah would need to keep the weapons it possesses south of the Litani River hidden, an agreement for areas north of the river would be "left to a long term solution," the paper reported.
If the proposed compromise is accepted Tuesday by the Lebanese government, it would violate the terms of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1701 ending the war in Lebanon. The resolution rules that the Lebanese army and UNIFIL may be the only armed forces in the territory between the Litani River south to the Israeli border.
This compromise also violates the "one gun" principle that appears in Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora's Seven Points Plan.
Annan formally warns Israel and Lebanon
Secretary-General Kofi Annan has warned Israel and Lebanon against occupying additional territory and told them to refrain from responding to any attacks "except where clearly required in immediate self-defense."
A copy of a letter that Annan sent to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was obtained Monday by The Associated Press. It set out the U.N.'s expectations of how both sides will fulfill their obligations under the Security Council resolution adopted Friday.
A similar letter was sent to Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Annan told Israel and Lebanon in the letters sent Sunday that once the cessation of hostilities took effect there must be no firing from the ground, sea or air into the other side's territory or at its forces.
Lebanon and Israel must immediately inform the United Nations if they have been fired on, with as much detail as possible, "refraining from responding except where clearly required in immediate self-defense," Annan said.
Neither side can occupy -- or seek to occupy -- any additional territory from the other side, he said.
Under the U.N. resolution, Hezbollah is required to immediately stop all attacks but Israel is only required to immediately stop "all offensive military operations."
In the case of any firing, Annan said that "the U.N. undertakes to bring, in an impartial manner, such incidents to the attention of the Security Council as quickly as possible."
Annan also said each side must refrain "from any changes in the strength, composition or disposition of its forces ... unless it notified the U.N. in advance and the U.N. in turn is able to inform the other side."
He asked the two leaders to designate a general who would be accessible to the commander of the U.N. force, known as UNIFIL, French Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini. The three generals met Monday morning -- just hours after the cessation of hostilities began -- at the U.N. position on the border crossing on the Mediterranean coast at Ras Naqoura.
The secretary-general also asked Israel and Lebanon to designate generals to meet with the U.N. force commander to discuss "time-lines and modalities for implementing provisions related to any withdrawal or forward deployment of their respective armed forces within the area in question."
This should include "certification that there are no unexploded ordinance, mines or booby-traps in the area from which they have withdrawn," he said.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, acknowledging shortcomings in the war preparations and its conduct, began grappling with the political fallout is, as critics abandoned their wartime unity to attack him for either hitting Lebanon too hard or not hard enough.
By the end of the week, the Israelis planned to release many of the thousands of reserve troops called up for the conflict, signaling an end to the largest mobilization in many years.
"We are making every effort to thin the ranks of reservists, and to return as many civilians as possible to their homes," the deputy chief of the northern command, Brig. Gen. Shuki Shahur, told Army Radio.
The army said the U.N.-drafted cease-fire that began early Monday was generally holding, and survived its first 24 hours with only a few infractions.
Five mortar shells were fired overnight, but landed in vacant land in south Lebanon, the army said. No rockets have been fired at northern Israel since Sunday.
On Monday, Israeli troops killed at least six Hezbollah guerrillas in four separate skirmishes.
Israel is due to gradually evacuate southern Lebanon upon the arrival of the Lebanese army supported by up to 15,000 troops under the blue flag of the United Nations. News reports said the handover could begin within a day or two, but the army said it depended on how fast the U.N. could muster forces into the region.
Both Israel and Hezbollah claimed some measure of victory after 34 days of fighting.
"(Israeli) soldiers have, to an extent not yet publicly disclosed, battered this murderous organization, its military and organizational infrastructure, its long-term capabilities, its huge arsenal, which it built over many years, and also the self-confidence of its members and leaders," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the Israeli parliament Monday.
"We are today before a strategic, historic victory, without exaggeration," Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said on the Hezbollah's Al-Manar television.
Since the fighting began July 12, 157 Israelis were killed, including 39 civilians and 118 soldiers. Lebanese officials reported 794 people killed. Hezbollah said 68 of its fighters were killed in battle, but Israel said its forces killed nearly 500 of the guerrillas.
With the fighting over, Olmert's critics felt free to take off the gloves and attack his conduct of the war, setting the stage for political battles that could threaten his 3-month-old government. Opposition politicians demanded a commission of inquiry into all aspects of the war.
"There were many failures, failures in identifying the threat, failures in preparing to meet the threat, failures in the management of the war, failures in the management of the home front," Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the opposition Likud Party, told parliament.
"Without a doubt we shall need later on to learn the lessons and fix the mistakes," Netanyahu said.
Some critics said Israel should have sent in massive ground forces earlier. Others criticized Israel's final military surge -- launched hours before the passage of the U.N. cease-fire deal Friday -- that killed 33 soldiers.
Olmert also came under fire for failing to win the release of the two Israeli soldiers whose capture ignited the war.
The AP contributed to this report.
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