A United Nations-brokered ceasefire to end the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas went into effect at 7am South African time on Monday, and Lebanese security sources said the guns had fallen silent across southern Lebanon.
The truce is the first step in a process that includes the deployment of a 15 000-strong UN force in southern Lebanon to help ensure peace after a war that has claimed about 1 100 lives in Lebanon and 154 in Israel.
”We are entering the stage of a ceasefire. The fire is over,” a senior Israeli army officer, giving orders to troops to stop firing, said in remarks carried by Israel’s Channel 2 TV.
”We hope the ceasefire will be kept … We are asking you to stay alert and prepare as Hezbollah could still break it and because we must be prepared to help our forces inside [south Lebanon] who may need assistance.”
Israel launched new air strikes less than 15 minutes before the truce deadline, targeting areas in eastern Lebanon and near the southern city of Sidon, security sources said. Fierce clashes between Israeli troops and Hezbollah were also reported.
Air strikes on a village near Lebanon’s eastern border with Syria killed at least nine civilians, medics said. A police officer died in a later strike in the area and one person was killed in a raid on a Palestinian refugee camp, security sources said.
On Sunday, Israel’s Cabinet approved a UN Security Council resolution to end the fighting and deploy the UN force to help enforce the truce. The Lebanese government and Hezbollah have also agreed to the resolution.
Both Israel and Hezbollah, however, have said they would respond to any violation of the truce by the other side. ”It will be a fragile truce,” said a Western diplomat.
About 1 100 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 154 Israelis, including 114 soldiers, have been killed in the war, which was triggered when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12.
Israel’s stance
Israeli officials said the Jewish state believed it would be entitled under the UN resolution to use force to prevent Hezbollah from rearming and to clear guerrilla positions out of southern Lebanon after the truce took effect.
Senior foreign ministry official Gideon Meir said his country would not violate the truce. ”If Hezbollah continues to fire rockets or shoots at our soldiers, then we will have to respond. There will not be a violation from our side,” he said.
Western diplomats and UN officials said they feared Israel’s broad definition of ”defensive” actions could lead to a resurgence in large-scale fighting and prevent the swift deployment of the UN troops, likely to be led by France.
Hezbollah has said its guerrillas would observe a truce once it began, but reserved the right to fight Israeli soldiers still on Lebanese soil.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni repeated Israel’s position that its about 30 000 troops would pull out from southern Lebanon only when the UN force arrived. The UN has said the deployment could take up to 10 days.
Besides France contributing troops, Italy says it is ready to dispatch up to 3 000. Portugal, Finland and Spain are also considering deployments. Solana listed Australia, Canada, Malaysia and Indonesia as non-European Union nations prepared to help.
The deployment of the Lebanese army in the south is another key part of the UN resolution adopted on Friday.
The Israeli army said about 530 Hezbollah guerrillas had been killed during the war. Hezbollah has acknowledged only a few score dead.
Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported the Israeli government was willing to discuss a possible release of Lebanese prisoners in exchange for the freeing of the two captured soldiers.
The war in Lebanon coincided with an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip to free another captured soldier. More than 170 Palestinians, more than half of them civilians, have been killed in the military campaign in Gaza.
An Israeli air strike killed one Palestinian and wounded two in the northern Gaza Strip on Monday shortly after at least one rocket was fired into Israel from the area, doctors said.
The Israeli army said it had targeted militants who had launched the rocket. It hit the southern city of Ashkelon just as Israel’s truce with Hezbollah guerrillas took hold. One person was lightly wounded by the rocket, police said. — Reuters