Officials said Israeli troops would begin leaving southern Lebanon as soon as
the Lebanese army and the international force started to deploy in the area. But
the military will maintain its air and sea blockade of Lebanon to prevent arms
from reaching Hezbollah guerrillas, a military official said.
France and Italy, along with predominantly Muslim
Turkey and Malaysia, signaled willingness Saturday to contribute troops to the peacekeeping force, but
consultations are still needed to hammer out the force's makeup and mandate and it
was uncertain when it would be in place.
Smoke rises from Naqoura village near the UN
headquarters in south Lebanon August 13, 2006 after an Israeli air raid on
the area. [Reuters] |
Earlier Monday before the cease-fire, Israeli warplanes attacked a village in
eastern Lebanon and the edge of a Palestinian refugee camp, leaving two people
dead and nine wounded, security officials said.
One of the raids hit an office of the pro-Syrian Popular Front for the
Liberation of Palestine General-Command just outside a refugee camp in the
southern city of Sidon. One person was killed and three civilians who live near
the office were wounded, security officials said.
Israeli missiles also slammed into a minibus on the outskirts of the
Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek, killing one policeman and wounding six Lebanese
soldiers, security officials said.
The Israeli military also dropped leaflets on central Beirut early Monday,
warning it would retaliate for any attack launched against it from Lebanon.
One leaflet said Hezbollah serves the interests of its Iranian and Syrian
patrons and has "brought destruction, Lebanon against the State of Israel."
Addressed to Lebanon's citizens, it said, "Will you be able to pay this price
again?"
Some of the 30,000 Israeli soldiers in southern Lebanon fought fierce battles
with guerrillas Sunday before the cease-fire went into effect. Israel's army
said seven soldiers were killed, a day after 24 died in the highest single-day
death toll for the army since the conflict began.
Hezbollah reported one of its fighters killed, but did not say when.
Israeli jets pounded a Hezbollah stronghold in south Beirut with at least 23
missiles, most coming in a two-minute period Sunday.
An Associated Press photographer who reached the area saw the body of a child
being removed from the wreckage. TV pictures showed heavy damage appearing to
stretch for several hundred yards in all directions in the neighborhood of
medium-rise apartment buildings.
Jets also attacked gas stations in the southern port city of Tyre on Sunday,
killing at least 15 people, Lebanese officials said.
Two Israeli air raids on houses in the eastern village of Brital killed at
least eight people and wounded nearly two dozen, civil defense official Ali
Shukur said. More people were feared trapped under the rubble, he said.
Hezbollah fired 250 rockets Sunday, killing an Israeli man and wounding 53
people, rescue officials said. Cars were set afire in the northern city of
Haifa.
Israeli officials appealed to residents of the north who fled the rockets not
to return before the government determined the situation was safe.
As the fighting persisted, Israel's Cabinet held a stormy debate on the
cease-fire, with minister Ophir Pines-Paz criticizing the government's decision
to expand its ground offensive ahead of the truce. The Cabinet eventually
approved the agreement 24-0, with one abstention.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the cease-fire agreement would ensure that
"Hezbollah won't continue to exist as a state within a state."
In addition to authorizing the beefed-up international force in southern
Lebanon, the Security Council resolution calls for the Lebanese government to be
the only armed force in the country, meaning Hezbollah would have to be
disarmed.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the agreement, if implemented,
"will lead to a significant change in the rules of the game in Lebanon."
"I'm not naive. ... I live in the Middle East, and I know that sometimes not
every decision is implemented. I'm aware of the difficulties. Yet with this I
say with full confidence that the Security Council decision is good for Israel,"
she said.
Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, said Saturday that his guerrillas would abide
by the cease-fire resolution, but warned it was "our natural right" to fight any
Israeli troops remaining in Lebanon.
The fighting erupted July 12 when Hezbollah guerrillas attacked an army
patrol inside Israel, killing three soldiers and capturing two others. Five more
Israelis were killed later in the day trying to rescue their comrades.
Israel then launched an air and ground offensive, and 4 1/2 weeks of combat
has killed at least 789 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians -- and 154
Israelis, including 115 soldiers.
Among the dead soldiers this weekend was Staff Sgt. Uri Grossman, the
20-year-old son of renowned Israeli novelist and peace activist David Grossman.
He was killed by an anti-tank missile Saturday, the army said Sunday.
Livni said Israel would not stop trying to win the captured soldiers'
release, but would not accept a link between their freedom and Hezbollah's
demands that Israel free Lebanese prisoners.
