Israeli Forces Leave Outposts Near Lebanon as U.N. Team Moves In
In a move likely to help defuse tension in a disputed area, Israeli forces pulled out of two outposts at the Lebanese-Israeli frontier as U.N. teams prepared to finalize the border between the nations, U.N. sources said Saturday.
Elsewhere on the border Saturday, U.N. peacekeepers deployed at a fence where Lebanese had been throwing stones and firebombs at Israeli soldiers on the other side.
Ten U.N. peacekeepers kept the Lebanese about 25 yards from the soldiers to prevent friction. Israeli soldiers also kept people away from their side of the barrier.
After the peacekeepers left, however, some Lebanese civilians tried to climb the fence into Israeli territory, and Israeli soldiers fired warning shots in the air, an army statement said.
Since the Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon on Wednesday, civilians and armed guerrillas have been converging on the new border.
Meanwhile, Lebanon’s army said Saturday that it was holding 1,488 members of the disintegrated Israeli-backed South Lebanon Army who had surrendered during the withdrawal.
The army said that it already had referred 200 “collaborators” to military courts and that the rest would be handed over in the next few days.
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