Israeli withdrawal starts, Lebanese troops prepare

LEBANON: Israeli forces began leaving parts of south Lebanon on Tuesday as a U.N. truce largely held for a second day and the Lebanese army prepared to move south.

Tens of thousands of refugees who had fled the month-long war between Israel and Hizbollah headed home to battered villages in the south.

In northern Israel, residents also returned after weeks away from their homes to escape cross-border Hizbollah rocket fire.

The Israeli army, which had poured 30,000 troops into the south to fight the Shi'ite Muslim guerrillas, plans to start handing over some pockets of territory to U.N. troops in a day or two, Israeli officials and Western diplomats said.

Israel's top general, Dan Halutz, said Israeli forces could complete a withdrawal within 7 to 10 days. In line with the U.N. Security Council resolution that halted the fighting, the Lebanese army will begin moving 15,000 troops south of the Litani River on Thursday, a senior political source said. The force is assembling at various army bases.

"As we speak, the army is readying the force," the source said, adding that Lebanese units would stay out of areas occupied by Israeli troops until U.N. peacekeepers move in.

The Israeli army said on Tuesday that Israeli soldiers killed a senior Hizbollah commander just hours before the ceasefire took effect this week.

The truce itself remains fragile. Israeli soldiers shot five Hizbollah fighters in two incidents in Lebanon on Tuesday, the army said. It was not known whether any had been killed.

The army also said four Hizbollah mortar bombs landed near its troops overnight, causing no casualties. On Monday Israeli troops killed at least one guerrilla after the truce. Israel's quicker withdrawal plans reflect concern that its forces on the ground are easy targets for Hizbollah attack.

A military spokesman said Israel had begun pulling its forces out of Lebanon, but the army declined to say how many of the 30,000 troops Israel was reported to have there had left. Israeli troops left the Christian town of Marjayoun, the nearby town of Qlaiah and the village of Ghandouriyeh, scene of ferocious battles over the weekend, security sources said.

The general calm has prompted a chaotic tide of Shi'ite Muslim refugees flowing back to southern villages, despite the risk of unexploded munitions left over from the fighting and Israeli leaflet drops warning that it was not safe to return.

Life was also returning to towns in northern Israel. Thousands of Israelis headed back to their homes after nearly two days without rocket attacks from Lebanon.

Beirut, Wednesday, Reuters