Guns fall silent as Lebanon ceasefire takes hold
14/08/2006 10h13
BEIRUT (AFP) - The guns have fallen silent in Lebanon as a UN-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to take hold after some of the most intense fighting of the devastating month-old conflict.
Israel had launched a wave of air strikes in the final hours before the deadline for a cessation of hostilities in a war that has killed about 1,300 people, displaced hundreds of thousands and laid waste to swathes of Lebanon.
But after the ceasefire took effect at 8 am (0500 GMT), Israel began withdrawing troops from Lebanon although it said it would maintain its air and sea blockade that has all but cut the country off from the outside world.
"There is a cessation of hostilities, but Israeli aircraft are still overflying some regions," a Lebanese security source said.
In Lebanon, exhausted refugees streamed from their shelters to stock up on provisions and inspect ruined homes while towns in northern Israel that have borne the brunt of rocket attacks remained deserted.
Israeli forces had pursued their battle to wipe out Hezbollah until the last minute, shelling areas around Tyre and Khiam in the war-battered south and unleashing air strikes on the ancient eastern city of Baalbek, killing five members of the Lebanese army and security forces and two civilians.
Warplanes also dropped leaflets over Beirut blaming Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian "masters" for the devastation and warning it would respond to any future attack.
"Hezbollah has brought you many achievements: destruction, displacement and death," said one leaflet.
"Can you pay this price a second time? Know that the Israeli Defence Forces will return and work with the required force against any terrorist act that will be launched from Lebanon to harm the state of Israel."
Hezbollah activists handed out their own posters in the militia's southern Beirut stronghold claiming "divine victory."
At least 38 Lebanese civilians and four soldiers had been killed Sunday as fighter jets pounded Beirut and other targets across the country after some of the most intense fighting of the 34-day conflict.
Seven Israeli soldiers were also killed in action Sunday, and an Israeli civilian was killed as the Shiite militia fired a record 250 rockets at the Jewish state.
The timing for the ceasefire was unveiled by UN chief Kofi Annan on Saturday following the adoption of a Security Council resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities and deployment of an international force in south Lebanon.
Both the Israeli and Lebanese cabinets endorsed the resolution, while Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his fighters would abide by any ceasefire -- but would also fight on until the last Israeli soldier left Lebanon.
In a sign of potential problems ahead, a Lebanese cabinet meeting to discuss the thorny issue of Hezbollah's disarmament was postponed because the Shiite movement was standing by a refusal to give up its weapons.
"This is the moment of truth and they do not want to give up their arms," a cabinet minister told AFP.
Israel has urged the world to apply UN resolution 1701 firmly, warning that Hezbollah must be dismantled and the Lebanese army quickly deployed in the the militia's stronghold in the south.
The United States, Israel's major ally, said it viewed the truce as a "positive step" but that it would take some time for the UN resolution to be carried out fully.
The agreement to halt fighting raised hopes of an end to the deadliest cross-border conflict in a quarter century which has claimed the lives of about 1,150 people in Lebanon, most of them civilians, and 156 Israelis.
But with Hezbollah vowing to fight until the last Israeli soldier leaves Lebanon and Israel stressing that it will respond to any attack on its troops or rocket fire, it was unclear whether the cessation of hostilities would hold.
In one of the deadliest raids Sunday, at least 15 people were killed, including three children, in Israeli air strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs. Another eight people were killed near Baalbek.
In what the media called the largest ground operation since the 1973 Middle East war, Israeli forces on Sunday had swept through south Lebanon where Hezbollah is rooted, with some troops reaching the Litani River which runs as far as 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the border.
A total of 24 soldiers had been killed in combat Saturday -- the highest single-day toll since the war began on July 12 after Hezbollah captured two Israeli servicemen.
The Litani has served as a tactical boundary for Israel's operations in Lebanon since it first invaded its northern neighbour in 1978, leading to a long and bloody occupation that ended only six years ago.
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres sought to put a positive spin on the war's outcome despite the failure to stem Hezbollah rocket fire.
"I think that we have finished more or less the victors both militarily and politically," he said, predicting that Hezbollah would end with "its tail between its legs."
As displaced Lebanese began heading home, a UN aid convoy was heading to the southern port city of Tyre, the first such delivery of aid for several days.
"It does not matter whether our homes are still standing or not. We have to go back and defend our land," said Leila Haidar, who had fled the south with her family.
More than 900,000 people have been displaced by the Israeli bombardments that have also destroyed thousands of homes, dozens of bridges and hundreds of kilometres (miles) of roads.
The UN resolution, unanimously adopted Friday after weeks of diplomatic wrangling, aslo calls for a withdrawal of Israeli forces as the international force is deployed and the release of the two captive Israeli soldiers.
Morocco, Indonesia, Italy, Turkey, Spain and Malaysia have already agreed to send troops to bolster the UN force, Lebanon said.
While approving the resolution, the Lebanese cabinet expressed reservations that it did not go far enough in condemning the large-scale Israeli destruction and that it failed to address the issue of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa farms.
"Lebanon will be I think the last state to sign a peace treaty with Israel," declared its UN ambassador Nouhad Mahmoud.
14/08/2006 10h13
BEIRUT (AFP) - The guns have fallen silent in Lebanon as a UN-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah appeared to take hold after some of the most intense fighting of the devastating month-old conflict.Israel had launched a wave of air strikes in the final hours before the deadline for a cessation of hostilities in a war that has killed about 1,300 people, displaced hundreds of thousands and laid waste to swathes of Lebanon.
But after the ceasefire took effect at 8 am (0500 GMT), Israel began withdrawing troops from Lebanon although it said it would maintain its air and sea blockade that has all but cut the country off from the outside world.
"There is a cessation of hostilities, but Israeli aircraft are still overflying some regions," a Lebanese security source said.
In Lebanon, exhausted refugees streamed from their shelters to stock up on provisions and inspect ruined homes while towns in northern Israel that have borne the brunt of rocket attacks remained deserted.
Israeli forces had pursued their battle to wipe out Hezbollah until the last minute, shelling areas around Tyre and Khiam in the war-battered south and unleashing air strikes on the ancient eastern city of Baalbek, killing five members of the Lebanese army and security forces and two civilians.
Warplanes also dropped leaflets over Beirut blaming Hezbollah and its Iranian and Syrian "masters" for the devastation and warning it would respond to any future attack.
"Hezbollah has brought you many achievements: destruction, displacement and death," said one leaflet.
"Can you pay this price a second time? Know that the Israeli Defence Forces will return and work with the required force against any terrorist act that will be launched from Lebanon to harm the state of Israel."
Hezbollah activists handed out their own posters in the militia's southern Beirut stronghold claiming "divine victory."
At least 38 Lebanese civilians and four soldiers had been killed Sunday as fighter jets pounded Beirut and other targets across the country after some of the most intense fighting of the 34-day conflict.
Seven Israeli soldiers were also killed in action Sunday, and an Israeli civilian was killed as the Shiite militia fired a record 250 rockets at the Jewish state.
The timing for the ceasefire was unveiled by UN chief Kofi Annan on Saturday following the adoption of a Security Council resolution calling for a cessation of hostilities and deployment of an international force in south Lebanon.
Both the Israeli and Lebanese cabinets endorsed the resolution, while Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said his fighters would abide by any ceasefire -- but would also fight on until the last Israeli soldier left Lebanon.
In a sign of potential problems ahead, a Lebanese cabinet meeting to discuss the thorny issue of Hezbollah's disarmament was postponed because the Shiite movement was standing by a refusal to give up its weapons.
"This is the moment of truth and they do not want to give up their arms," a cabinet minister told AFP.
Israel has urged the world to apply UN resolution 1701 firmly, warning that Hezbollah must be dismantled and the Lebanese army quickly deployed in the the militia's stronghold in the south.
The United States, Israel's major ally, said it viewed the truce as a "positive step" but that it would take some time for the UN resolution to be carried out fully.
The agreement to halt fighting raised hopes of an end to the deadliest cross-border conflict in a quarter century which has claimed the lives of about 1,150 people in Lebanon, most of them civilians, and 156 Israelis.
But with Hezbollah vowing to fight until the last Israeli soldier leaves Lebanon and Israel stressing that it will respond to any attack on its troops or rocket fire, it was unclear whether the cessation of hostilities would hold.
In one of the deadliest raids Sunday, at least 15 people were killed, including three children, in Israeli air strikes on Beirut's southern suburbs. Another eight people were killed near Baalbek.
In what the media called the largest ground operation since the 1973 Middle East war, Israeli forces on Sunday had swept through south Lebanon where Hezbollah is rooted, with some troops reaching the Litani River which runs as far as 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the border.
A total of 24 soldiers had been killed in combat Saturday -- the highest single-day toll since the war began on July 12 after Hezbollah captured two Israeli servicemen.
The Litani has served as a tactical boundary for Israel's operations in Lebanon since it first invaded its northern neighbour in 1978, leading to a long and bloody occupation that ended only six years ago.
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres sought to put a positive spin on the war's outcome despite the failure to stem Hezbollah rocket fire.
"I think that we have finished more or less the victors both militarily and politically," he said, predicting that Hezbollah would end with "its tail between its legs."
As displaced Lebanese began heading home, a UN aid convoy was heading to the southern port city of Tyre, the first such delivery of aid for several days.
"It does not matter whether our homes are still standing or not. We have to go back and defend our land," said Leila Haidar, who had fled the south with her family.
More than 900,000 people have been displaced by the Israeli bombardments that have also destroyed thousands of homes, dozens of bridges and hundreds of kilometres (miles) of roads.
The UN resolution, unanimously adopted Friday after weeks of diplomatic wrangling, aslo calls for a withdrawal of Israeli forces as the international force is deployed and the release of the two captive Israeli soldiers.
Morocco, Indonesia, Italy, Turkey, Spain and Malaysia have already agreed to send troops to bolster the UN force, Lebanon said.
While approving the resolution, the Lebanese cabinet expressed reservations that it did not go far enough in condemning the large-scale Israeli destruction and that it failed to address the issue of the Israeli-occupied Shebaa farms.
"Lebanon will be I think the last state to sign a peace treaty with Israel," declared its UN ambassador Nouhad Mahmoud.
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