ISRAEL: Residents flock into southern Lebanon, waving Hizbollah flags and posters/EU commissioner for development and humanitarian aid Louis Michel arrives

Lebanese residents flocked into southern Lebanon on Thursday (August 17), waving Hizbollah flags and posters of Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah along Israel's northern border. Residents making V for victory signs and cheering, drove along the Israeli border town of Metula as residents of the town questioned the outcome of the month long war. "Nothing will change. In two months there will be another war," one resident of the Israeli border town of Metula said. Lebanese troops deployed in south Lebanon on Thursday, linking up with U.N. peacekeepers to take control of Hizbollah strongholds as Israeli forces withdraw after their 34-day war with the guerrillas. Hizbollah fighters melted away as Lebanese troops crossed the Litani River, about 20 km (13 miles) from the Israeli border, security sources and Reuters witnesses said. A U.N.-backed truce halted the fighting on Monday after the Security Council adopted a resolution calling for the Lebanese army and an expanded U.N. force of up to 15,000 troops to deploy in the south and replace Hizbollah and Israeli forces. Dozens of people lined roads, waving red and white Lebanese flags and throwing rice and flowers in celebration. A Lebanese cabinet decision on the deployment did not mention any withdrawal of Hizbollah's fighters nor the decommissioning of rockets they fired on northern Israel during the conflict. Nor did the decision say whether Lebanese troops would try to uncover weapons hidden in bunkers and caves in the area. European Union commissioner for development and humanitarian aid Louis Michel arrived in the region after a three day visit to Lebanon. During a visit with injured Israeli soldiers in the rocket battered city of Haifa, Michel said the EU urges Hizbollah to disarm to prevent future escalation along the border. "We stressed that they would disarm, maybe with the deployment of Lebanese troops and the international force maybe there is a good chance that they will disarm. In any case I hope it will happen", Michel told reporters.

ITN Source | August 17, 2006

Tags:. .soldiers. .army. .victory. .union. .southern