Lebanese Army Moves South; Israel Hands Land to U.N.

The Lebanese army moved into the nation’s south for the first time in decades early today and the Israeli army began handing over parts of the region to U.N. peacekeepers, measures meant to seal a cease-fire that ended 33 days of bloody warfare.

A Lebanese military spokesman and Israeli military sources confirmed that troops had moved south of the Litani River.

Lebanese television showed live footage of military trucks moving alongside normal traffic through small towns of the south. They carried household and office furnishings along with soldiers.

“There are more that have received their orders that are on their way,” the spokesman said.

The Cabinet on Wednesday had announced that the army would deploy south of the Litani in Arqoub, Hasbaya and Marjayoun.

In answer to a question, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said, “There will be no clash between the army and Hezbollah.... The army is going to its land, to be among its people.”

A Cabinet statement said the army’s mission would be to “protect the possessions and land of citizens and prevent the existence of any authority no matter what kind it is, as long as it is outside the authority of the Lebanese government.”

In Jerusalem, the Israeli army said today more than half the Lebanese territory it held had been handed over to the United Nations force known as UNIFIL, and its drawdown of troops in the south continued.

Israel has said it expects peacekeepers and the Lebanese army to prevent further attacks by Hezbollah, which fired more than 3,700 rockets at northern Israel over the last month.

More than 840 Lebanese and 157 Israelis have been killed in the fighting.

Hours before the territorial handover began, Israel said completion of its pullout depended on the presence of both the Lebanese army and an international force.

An Israeli army spokesman said the hand-over of territory would occur in stages and would be conditional on the ability of U.N. forces and the Lebanese army to “take effective control of the area.”

“The Lebanese army has committed to prevent Hezbollah activity in all areas under its control and to operate to distance Hezbollah from the area,” a military statement said. “The deployment of the Lebanese army in southern Lebanon is one of Israel’s diplomatic aims.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who met with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan in New York, said the international force also was needed to help monitor the border to prevent Iran and Syria from replenishing Hezbollah’s weapons.

At the height of the fighting, which began July 12 after a cross-border raid by Hezbollah, an estimated 30,000 Israeli troops were inside Lebanon.

Israeli media reported early today that all Israeli reservists had left the country and that only regular troops remained. An army spokesman declined to say how many troops were still in Lebanon.