Israeli occupying troops pulling out of Lebanon
Lebanon-Israel, Politics, 8/18/2006

As the fragile ceasefire is still in force between Lebanon and Israel, the army of the occupying regime of Israel continued the hand-over of positions to the United Nations Interim Force (UNIFIL) yesterday.

Israel has stepped up its withdrawal from southern Lebanon after the Lebanese government agreed to deploy troops on the frontier for the first time in 40 years.

More than 50 percent of the areas Israel had occupied in the course of its invasion of Lebanon have been handed over.

At the peak of the fighting earlier this week, some 30,000 Israeli troops had been in Lebanon.

UN vehicles crossed into Lebanon from Israel on Thursday as Israeli soldiers loaded tanks onto carriers for transport south.

The UN-brokered truce authorizes up to 15,000 UN peacekeepers to help 15,000 Lebanese troops extend their authority to the south of Litani River, 30 km north of Israel.

The UN said United Nations-backed cessation of hostilities in Lebanon is generally holding as more Israeli troops leave Lebanese territory, while the end to the fighting allows the world body's peacekeepers in the south to carry out urgent humanitarian work, including de-mining and assisting villagers with water and other essentials.

The Israeli Army withdrew today from the areas of Yatar and Haddathah in the central sector and handed over control to the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Checkpoints and patrols then verified the withdrawal.

"The cessation of hostilities was generally maintained in the past 24 hours. There were no reports of incidents or breaches of the agreement, the parties have not fired into the territory of or at the other side, and there were no attempts to occupy any additional territory," the mission said in a press release.

The Lebanese Armed Forces then completed the process of deployment inside the territory vacated by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), while UNIFIL controls a buffer zone to the south, between the Lebanese Army and the IDF.

These operations will continue along the plan and timeline adopted at a trilateral meeting of the Force Commander with senior representatives of the Lebanese and Israeli Armies, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York, emphasizing that UNIFIL is closely coordinating and monitoring the operations.

"The UNIFIL Chinese de-mining teams, meanwhile, carried out operations to clear unexploded ordnance in various areas south of the Litani River and UNIFIL troops also provided water and food to returnees in their villages in the south," he said. De-mining is considered a crucial activity given the threat to civilians posed by unexploded ordnance.

Previous Stories:
  Rice said Hizbullah needs to disarm or face international pressure   (8/16/2006)
  Lebanon: UN emergency aid distributed in Tyre, fuel supplied to hospitals   (8/16/2006)
  Lebanon orders army to move south   (8/16/2006)

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