South Lebanon Power Transfer Begins

Lebanese Army Enters, Israel Pulls Out; France Commits To Lead U.N. Force

(CBS/AP) 
Israel had as many as 30,000 troops in southern Lebanon during the conflict that began July 12 when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid. Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, the Israeli chief of staff, said earlier that Israeli soldiers would stay in southern Lebanon for months, if necessary.

Despite continued division over disarming Hezbollah, the Cabinet decision to deploy Lebanese troops was a major step toward meeting demands that the guerrillas be removed from Israel's northern frontier. It would also mark the extension of government sovereignty over the whole country for the first time since 1969, when the Lebanese government sanctioned Palestinian cross-border attacks on Israel.

The Lebanese government, which includes two Hezbollah ministers, met for the first time since the cease-fire took hold Monday, after two postponements because of divisions over Hezbollah's arms. The guerrillas have resisted pressure to give them up or even withdraw them from the border area.

"There will be no confrontation between the army and brothers in Hezbollah," Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said after the Cabinet meeting. "That is not the army's mission. ... They are not going to chase or, God forbid, exact revenge (on Hezbollah)."

"There will be no authority or weapons other than those of the state," Aridi said. "If any weapon is found, even the brothers in Hezbollah have said 'Let it be in the hands of the army. No problem.' "

The militant group has insisted it has the right to defend Lebanese territory as long as Israeli troops stay.

Hezbollah's top official in south Lebanon hinted that the guerrillas would not disarm or withdraw but would keep its weapons out of sight. Hezbollah will have "no visible military presence," Sheik Nabil Kaouk told reporters in the southern port city of Tyre.

Hezbollah has used charity work and social welfare programs financed by Iran to win wide support throughout Lebanon.

It continued that tradition Wednesday, saying it would help tens of thousands of Lebanese reconstruct homes that were destroyed by Israel, a move likely to deepen support among Shiites, who make up about 35 percent of Lebanon's 4 million people.

At a Beirut high school, Hezbollah officials took information from hundreds of people who need money to rebuild. The group's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, has promised money for civilians to pay rent and even buy furniture.

Hezbollah promises to pay out up to $10,000 within 72 hours to needy families, reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey. And they make no apologies for where the money's coming from.

"Would you consider it a crime that the Iranians are going to help us rebuild what the Americans destroyed?" Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim Moussawi, asked Pizzey.

The Lebanese death toll, meanwhile, rose to 842 when rescue workers pulled 32 bodies from the rubble in the southern town of Srifa, target of some of Israel's heaviest bombardment in the 34-day conflict. The figure was assembled from reports by security and police officials, doctors and civil defense workers, morgue attendants as well as the military.

The Israeli toll was 157, including 118 soldiers, according to its military and government.

In a televised address, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora praised Lebanon's resistance, saying it showed that Israel's military was "no longer a force that cannot be resisted, an army that cannot be defeated."

He said Lebanon has the right to take charge of its destiny and warned of foreign meddling that has made the country into a battleground for Israelis, Palestinians, Syrians and Iranians over the decades.

The government ordered the army to "insure respect" for the Blue Line, the U.N.-demarcated border between Lebanon and Israel, and "apply the existing laws with regard to any weapons outside the authority of the Lebanese state."

That provision does not require Hezbollah to give up its arms, but rather directs them to keep them off the streets.

Foreign diplomats worked to assemble the international force that will augment the current 2,000-member U.N. peacekeepers, known as UNIFIL, who have been in the area for more than two decades. The U.N. hopes 3,500 international troops can reinforce the contingent already on the ground within 10 to 15 days, Assistant U.N. Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Hedi Annabi said.

French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said France is willing to lead the enlarged U.N. force until at least February. But she expressed concern that the force's mandate was "fuzzy" and said the peacekeepers needed sufficient resources and a clear mission to avoid a "catastrophe."

The U.N. resolution passed Friday authorized the peacekeepers to use force "to ensure the movement of aid workers and protect civilians in imminent danger, among other situations." But France has been demanding a more specific mandate, including when it may use firepower.

In a sign of lingering danger in south Lebanon, security officials said an explosive detonated Wednesday in the town of Nabatiyeh, killing 20-year-old man. A girl in the area was injured by explosives earlier.

Aid officials said unexploded ordnance was forcing relief workers to move gingerly in evacuating the wounded and in making deliveries of food and fuel. Lebanese authorities and Hezbollah sent teams across south Lebanon to clear explosives.

[mjv2944]

Without disarming Hezbollah it will all happen again. Next time I hope that Israel will tell the rest of the world to kiss their a--. A French led peace force will be a REAL joke. They've never won at anything, and are cowards to the bone. Just curious, was there ever a country called Palestine? This region of the world has been raging war for thousands of years and will contine to. Their religion is based on murder and mayhem. Only difference between today and 10,000 years ago are the automatic weapons instead of spears and bows.

[leader15-2009]

If they had exchanged prisoners before ---then this hezbo-tactic did not work this time ...I guess the Hezbos overestimated the peacefullness of the Israelis ---Somebody in the Israeli side got smarter this time ....
As I have mentioned before --for the Hezbos --It is a win-win situation --I am impressed with their situation !! They have nothing to lose ...
1) If they get a prisoner exchange --well and good !!
2) If they dont get a prisoner exchange and the Israelis dont opt for war --They have a propoganda victory ( they prove to the Arab World that they are heros and the Israelis are Goats )
3) If the Israelis do go to War -- and the Hezbos act as a homing beacon --under the cover of Human shields --they stiil win a moral war --and show the silly world that a lot of kids have died due to the Jews .
4) If the Israelis do opt for a land assault -- they may end up losing a lot of soldiers --as anyone would tell You --Urban Warfare against a Guerilla army is one of the toughest You can face --when anybody dressed as a civilian can be your enemy --even kids ( aka Vietnam-Somalia etc etc ) --And if You then kill civilians even if they happen to carry a gun ---The Israelis lose the Moral Ground .
5) In the MOST unlikely scenario of the Jews finally accepting defeat and leaving Israel for Europe or elsewhere --The Hezbos will be raving mad with pride --shout victory for Islam --and venture further to gain more land for Islam ---

[leader15-2009]

If they had exchanged prisoners before ---then this hezbo-tactic did not work this time ...I guess the Hezbos overestimated the peacefullness of the Israelis ---Somebody in the Israeli side got smarter this time ....
As I have mentioned before --for the Hezbos --It is a win-win situation --I am impressed with their situation !! They have nothing to lose ...
1) If they get a prisoner exchange --well and good !!
2) If they dont get a prisoner exchange and the Israelis dont opt for war --They have a propoganda victory ( they prove to the Arab World that they are heros and the Israelis are Goats )
3) If the Israelis do go to War -- and the Hezbos act as a homing beacon --under the cover of Human shields --they stiil win a moral war --and show the silly world that a lot of kids have died due to the Jews .
4) If the Israelis do opt for a land assault -- they may end up losing a lot of soldiers --as anyone would tell You --Urban Warfare against a Guerilla army is one of the toughest You can face --when anybody dressed as a civilian can be your enemy --even kids ( aka Vietnam-Somalia etc etc ) --And if You then kill civilians even if they happen to carry a gun ---The Israelis lose the Moral Ground .
5) In the MOST unlikely scenario of the Jews finally accepting defeat and leaving Israel for Europe or elsewhere --The Hezbos will be raving mad with pride --shout victory for Islam --and venture further to gain more land for Islam ---

[jdraz714]

Did Israel win or loose?
Since George Bush came on national T.V to say
Israel had won, only convienced me that Israel indeed did loose.

[ocgiraffe]

This is a complete and total defeat for Israel. Hezbollah will never rest in their quest to destroy Israel, and the only way Israel will ever prevent this is to destroy Hezbollah first. Olmert should have stood up to international pressure by committing the entire force of the Israeli military and not stopping until Hezbollah is obliterated and Nasrallah killed. He is a coward and should be thrown out in the streets.

[jimbo505]

War never ends well.

[blameterror]

It is justifiable to bomb away 1,000 civilians and inflict $10 Billion in damage for two kidnapped, and 8 dead, SOLDIERS, when the party or gang who instigated the situation has only one goal and it is not to work for peace. Hezbollah's goal doesn't even consider the well being of the Lebonese people.

So sad....

[chowdarykb2000]

Hezbollah has made it clear it is not going to disarm according to the terms of the U.N resolution.It is therefore absolutely right and justified that Israel stays on in southern Lebanon until Hezbollah is disarmed.It is also now clear that Hezbollah has taken the U.N Security Council for a royal ride once again.

[somarmahmoud]

This war broke the arrogance of the Israeli army

[truthwillwin]

The photo showing a "Made in USA" banner is fair and accurate reporting. The Bush administration planned with Prime Puppet Olmert to massacre and destroy in Lebanon at the earliest opportunity available. That was the ulterior objective of Olmert's clown speech in the House of Representatives only a few weeks before the Jewish-Nazi attack.

If it were justifiable to bomb away 1,000 civilians and inflict $10 Billion in damage for two kidnapped, and 8 dead, SOLDIERS, then your local metropolitan police force should shoot you and all your neighbors and explode local roads, shops, apartment buildings, etc., if a drugdealer or user is found in your area.

'Not the moral equivalent?' Right, it's the IMMORAL EQUIVALENT. Such hideous ideologies that of USAsays can be aired today only because Hitler never went away -- and this time around, he's been much more successful in the minds of his robot followers, because as he plots the destruction of all civilization, he has them duped to think the color of their skin, or their language, or their location is going to save them. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!

[mrusasays]

Niether side has won. Hezbollah never stood a chance and therefore can not claim victory. The only thing they can claim is that they still exist because of the mercy of Israel. Israel did not win because they did not achieve their objective. Because of all the international pressure to have sympathy for the innocent that were effected, they caved in and stopped their offensive. It is my oppinion that there were no innocent. The people of southern Lebanon knew the company they kept. They had a choice to remove the bad element from there mist or accept them. They choose the later. Therefore they too are a part of Hezbollah. The UN intervention has done nothing to solve the problem, but only to prolong the inevitable. There will be no winners here unless Israel is accepted by the entire muslim world. However, the muslim world is much more likely to accept war than peace as it has demonstrated for thousands of years.

[bigal321321]

Hezbollah disarm? Phuleeeze! I predict round 2 within a few months with the UN peaceforce caught in the middle.

I think this whole affair in the middle-east (including Iraq) should have the words that was stated by another gentleman read to them all. When will you start loving your children more than hating Jews.