LEBANON: Refugees and aid workers defy Israel warning not to travel to south Lebanon.

Aid workers and refugees trying to reach Marjayoun and nearby areas were working hard to cross Litani bridge on Tuesday (August 15) which, like nearly all nearby crossings, had been destroyed by Israeli attacks. Cars and vans stuck on muddy riverbanks as refugees and aid envoys attempted to ford the river. People eager to get home waded through the water with their belongings in plastic bags and climbed up steep slopes to reach the other side. "We don't care how we have to cross, as long as we get there because there are martyrs and we need to get there," said local resident Moufid Awada. But those who make it to Marjayoun find that there is little to be found there now. The town, invaded by Israeli offensive during the ground offensive, is badly destroyed. Most houses were destroyed by shelling. Israeli troops, who moved on foot through Marjayoun, 8 km (5) miles inside Lebanon, were confronted by heavy fire from Hizbollah guerillas. Marjayoun, a town of 3,000, served as the headquarters of the pro-Israeli South Lebanon Army militia during Israel's 22-year occupation of the region that ended in 2000. Five weeks of Israeli attacks have displaced an estimated one million Lebanese, 200,000 of which have taken refuge in Syria, where they have been housed in schools, mosques, monasteries, homes and even scouts' camps. The Israeli army, which had poured 30,000 troops into the south to fight Hizbollah guerrillas, plans to start handing over some pockets of territory to U.N. troops in a day or two, Israeli officials and Western diplomats said. Meanwhile Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets on Tuesday warning displaced civilians not to head home to south Lebanon before the deployment of the Lebanese army and U.N. peacekeepers in the region. "The situation in south Lebanon will remain dangerous as long as the Lebanese state does not deploy the Lebanese army and the international force," the Arabic leaflet said. "For your safety, we warn you against heading south until the Lebanese army and the international force are deployed," said the statement from the "Command of the Israeli Defence Forces". Amongst the warning, cars carrying thousands of refugees still drive through to south. "It doesn't matter if they continue to shell. People will still move." said Yousef Sayed who is on the way to his home with his family. Tens of thousands of refugees have swept back to south Lebanon since a U.N.-brokered truce halted fighting between Israeli forces and Hizbollah guerrillas on Monday. A U.N. resolution ordering the "cessation of hostilities" last week stipulates the deployment of 15,000 Lebanese troops and a U.N. force of up to 15,000 peacekeepers and the withdrawal of Israeli soldiers from south Lebanon.

ITN Source | August 16, 2006

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