Mideast Cease-Fire Takes Hold
Lebanese civilians streamed back to their homes Monday after a U.N. cease-fire halted fighting in a month-long conflict between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas that has claimed more than 900 lives and sent people fleeing on both sides of the border.
Lines of cars — some loaded with mattresses and luggage — snaked slowly around bomb craters and blasted bridges as people tried to reach southern Lebanon for their first view of what is left of their homes and property.
Lebanese, Israeli and U.N. officers met on the border Monday to discuss the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the war-ravaged region, a U.N. spokesman said.
At the same time, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz declared, "Except for local incidents, the cease-fire is holding."
He also promised "We have no intention of sinking in the Lebanese quagmire."
Israel is skeptical about the cease-fire, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger. One newspaper headline said the government expects the truce to fail. In northern Israel, people are emerging from bomb shelters and shops are opening. War-weary civilians on both sides of the border are breathing a sigh of relief.
In other developments:
Two incidents Monday morning marred the cease-fire.
In the first, Israeli troops opened fire on a group of armed Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon, hitting one man. The army said the militants were approaching an Israeli position near the village of Hadatha "in a threatening way," and were just a few yards away when the soldiers opened fire "in self-defense."
About three hours later, Israeli troops also shot a Hezbollah fighter aiming his rifle at them Monday afternoon, the army reported, in the second shooting incident since the cease-fire went into force. The incident occurred near the village of Ghanduriya. The troops saw the gunman approach and aim his weapon, then shot him before he could open fire, the army said.
Cease-fires in the region are what a cabinet minister called "phased relaxation," reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey.
Some 30,000 Israeli forces remained in Lebanon and Hezbollah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, said the militia would consider them legitimate targets until they withdraw from the country. The next step — sending in a peacekeeping mission — still appeared days away.
A Lebanese cabinet minister told Europe-1 radio in France that Lebanese soldiers could move into the southern part of the country as early as Wednesday. The U.N. plan calls for a 30,000-member, joint Lebanese-international force to move south of the Litani River, about 18 miles from the Israeli border, and stand as a buffer between Israel and Hezbollah militia.
"The Lebanese army is readying itself along the Litani to cross the river in 48 to 72 hours," said Lebanon's communications minister, Marwan Hamade.
The deployment of the Lebanese troops and U.N. peacekeepers was a cornerstone of the cease-fire resolution passed Friday by the U.N. Security Council. France, Italy, Turkey and Malaysia have signaled a willingness to contribute troops, but consultations are still needed to hammer out the force's makeup and mandate.
Officials said Israeli troops would begin pulling out as soon as the Lebanese and international troops start deploying to the area. But it appeared Israeli forces were staying put for the moment. Some exhausted soldiers left Lebanon early Monday, but were being replaced by fresh troops.
Israel also would maintain its air and sea blockade of Lebanon to prevent arms from reaching Hezbollah guerrillas, army officials said.
"Both sides will claim victory but recognize further conflict has no benefit. As long as Hezbollah is somewhat constrained, as it was before, Israel can deal with the outcome," Michael O'Hanlon, a foreign policy senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, said on CBS News' The Early Show. "We have to watch both sides to see if they can keep the cease-fire intact in the next few hours and days and what happens over the next month."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave the order Sunday to halt firing as of Monday morning, his spokesman Asaf Shariv said. However, "if someone fires at us we will fire back," he added.
Isaac Herzog, a senior minister in the Israeli Cabinet, said it was unlikely all fighting would be silenced immediately. "Experience teaches us that after that a process begins of phased relaxation," in the fighting, he said.
Meanwhile, both Hezbollah and Israel claimed they had come out ahead in the conflict.
Hezbollah distributed leaflets congratulating Lebanon on its "big victory" and thanking citizens for their patience during the fighting, which began July 12 when guerrillas killed three Israeli soldiers and captured two others in a cross-border raid.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said Hezbollah's "state within a state" had been destroyed, along with its ability to fire at Israeli soldiers across the border.