ISRAEL: Israeli troops return home, northern Israeli towns revive as shaky ceasefire in effect.

Record ID: 396921

  • Title: ISRAEL: Israeli troops return home, northern Israeli towns revive as shaky ceasefire in effect.
  • Date: 15th August 2006
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF POPULAR ISRAELI SINGER ARIEL ZILBER PLAYING CONCERT TO ISRAELI SOLDIERS VARIOUS OF ISRAELI SOLDIERS CLAPPING, SINGING TO TUNES
  • Embargoed: 30th August 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Reuters ID: LVABXA9TIA14VMP03U2H20JB8XMB
  • Story Text: Frontline Israeli troops began pulling back from Lebanon and residents of rocket-battered towns reopened shops on Tuesday (August 15), on the second day of a fragile ceasefire
    The Israeli army plans to start pulling back from some small pockets of southern Lebanon and to hand those areas over to U.N. troops in a day or two, Israeli officials and Western diplomats said.
    A Western diplomat briefed by the army said frontline Israeli troops had already started pulling back "on a small scale" from less strategic areas in order to consolidate positions they can more easily defend.
    Singing popular Israeli tunes, pop singer Ariel Zilber, famous for his steadfast support for Gaza's settlers last summer, provided late night entertainment for Israeli soldiers upon their return from the Lebanon war.
    At the same time, several hundreds of Israeli troops marched out of southern Lebanon during the night and the early hours of the morning. They made their way by foot into Israel after month long battles with Hizbollah fighters.
    But thousands of Israeli troops still remained in southern Lebanon. Israel has said they will not withdraw fully until an expanded U.N. peacekeeping force arrives alongside Lebanese troops.
    Tanks and artillery remained deployed along the border but were not operating. Soldiers relaxed next to tanks, drinking coffee, chatting and doing their laundry.
    The expedited withdrawal timetable reflects growing Israeli concerns that its forces on the ground will become easy targets for Hizbollah attack and jeopardize a fragile truce that took effect at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) on Monday.
    Israeli government officials said plans call for the U.N. force known as UNIFIL to redeploy on Wednesday or Thursday in some positions currently held by Israeli soldiers.
    While the army began pulling out of Lebanon under the ceasefire, residents of northern Israel emerged warily from homes and bomb shelters to find the border eerily quiet after more than a month of war.
    Most residents of Nahariya and other Israeli border towns cleared out after a cross-border raid by Hizbollah last month triggered all-out war.
    The violence erupted on July 12 when Hizbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight more. Israel responded with heavy artillery, airstrikes and later ground offensive.
    The guerrilla group responded to Israel's retaliation by bombarding northern Israel with rockets, which have killed 40 civilians.
    Opening his shop in the rocket battered town of Nahariya, Tomer said the war has kept his shop closed for over a month and said he is happy to be back.
    "You know, it's very hard to be one month without work, without your regular things you do everyday, so it's good, it's good to be back," he added.
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