Israel begins Lebanon pull out

JERUSALEM – Israel has begun thinning out its troops in southern Lebanon and plans to hand over the first of its captured positions to the Lebanese army today, the army said.

The military hopes to complete the evacuation of its forces from Lebanon by next week, army officials said yesterday, ending the military operation against Hezbollah guerrillas that began July 12 and left much of southern Lebanon a wasteland. Residents of northern Israel trickled home and towns began returning to life.Many people had fled as Hezbollah pounded the area with some 4 000 rockets.Cancelled bus routes to Kiryat Shemona were resumed, bringing home civilians and taking soldiers southward who had been at war for more than a month.Avi Tal reopened his coffee shop for the first time since early in the war.”All I can offer now is coffee,” he said.”It’s strange to adjust to the quiet after hearing booms for a month.”Israel was also planning to release many of the thousands of reserve troops called up for the conflict by the end of the next week, signaling an end to the largest mobilisation in years.”We are making every effort to thin the ranks of reservists, and to return as many civilians as possible to their homes,” the deputy chief of the northern command, Brig.Gen.Shuki Shahur, told Army Radio.The announcement came as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert began grappling with the political fallout from the fighting as critics abandoned their wartime unity to attack him for either hitting Hezbollah too hard or not hard enough.Opposition politicians demanded a commission of inquiry into the conduct of the battle as a new poll showed support for Olmert and his centrist Kadima Party had plummeted.”There were many failures – failures in identifying the threat, failures in preparing to meet the threat, failures in the management of the war, failures in the management of the home front,” Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the opposition Likud Party, told parliament Monday.”Without a doubt we shall need later on to learn the lessons and fix the mistakes,” he said.Some critics said Israel should have sent in massive ground forces earlier.Others criticised Israel’s final military surge – launched hours before the passage of the UN cease-fire deal Friday – that killed 33 soldiers.Olmert also came under fire for failing to win the release of the two Israeli soldiers whose capture ignited the war.Nampa-APResidents of northern Israel trickled home and towns began returning to life.Many people had fled as Hezbollah pounded the area with some 4 000 rockets.Cancelled bus routes to Kiryat Shemona were resumed, bringing home civilians and taking soldiers southward who had been at war for more than a month.Avi Tal reopened his coffee shop for the first time since early in the war.”All I can offer now is coffee,” he said.”It’s strange to adjust to the quiet after hearing booms for a month.”Israel was also planning to release many of the thousands of reserve troops called up for the conflict by the end of the next week, signaling an end to the largest mobilisation in years.”We are making every effort to thin the ranks of reservists, and to return as many civilians as possible to their homes,” the deputy chief of the northern command, Brig.Gen.Shuki Shahur, told Army Radio.The announcement came as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert began grappling with the political fallout from the fighting as critics abandoned their wartime unity to attack him for either hitting Hezbollah too hard or not hard enough.Opposition politicians demanded a commission of inquiry into the conduct of the battle as a new poll showed support for Olmert and his centrist Kadima Party had plummeted.”There were many failures – failures in identifying the threat, failures in preparing to meet the threat, failures in the management of the war, failures in the management of the home front,” Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the opposition Likud Party, told parliament Monday.”Without a doubt we shall need later on to learn the lessons and fix the mistakes,” he said.Some critics said Israel should have sent in massive ground forces earlier.Others criticised Israel’s final military surge – launched hours before the passage of the UN cease-fire deal Friday – that killed 33 soldiers.Olmert also came under fire for failing to win the release of the two Israeli soldiers whose capture ignited the war.Nampa-AP