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Israeli Forces Withdraw Totally From South Lebanon: Barak
The Israeli troops have completely pulled out from south Lebanon after withdrawing from two outposts in the Shebaa Farms area on Saturday, Prime Minister Ehud Barak told the cabinet on Sunday.
"The Israeli troops pulled out from two outposts and a small strip of land of the Shebaa Farms area Saturday, thus completing the total withdrawal from south Lebanon under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 425," Barak said.
Barak told the ministers that the U.N. has ruled that the Shebaa Farms, on the western foothills of the Mount Hermon, is not the Lebanese territory and there is no need for Israel to withdraw totally from the area.
The U.N. ruled on Tuesday that the Shebaa Farms, which Israel occupied during the 1967 Middle War, is part of the Golan Heights of Syria, and there is no need for Israel to hand over the area to Lebanon during the troop withdrawal.
But Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah, or Party of God, vowed to fight until Israel transfers this area to Lebanon.
On Saturday, Israeli forces pulled back to three or four kilometers down from some outposts.
Israel completed its troop withdrawal from south Lebanon on Wednesday, ending its 22 years of occupation.
In the absence of Israeli troops, Hezbollah and other guerrillas have moved in, taking control of south lebanon as well as the weapons and equipment abandoned by the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army (SLA), whose sudden collapse earlier this week led to an accelerated Israel's withdrawal.
U.N. Middle East envoy Terje Larsen said on Friday that he hoped the Lebanese army would deploy in the area vacated by Israel once the U.N. formally declared that Israel had honored Resolution 425 calling for its complete withdrawal from south Lebanon.
Larsen is scheduled to arrived here later Sunday from Beirut to discuss with Barak on the U.N. rule in south Lebanon after Israel's withdrawal.
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