The U.N.-brokered cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah guerillas went into effect early today.
There were no immediate reports of violence when the agreed cease-fire began at 1 a.m. (EDT) today.
The truce was approved yesterday by Israel’s Cabinet, 24-0, with one abstention after a heated debate. It ended a month of combat that killed more than 900 people on both sides.
The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered the army to observe the cease-fire, except in self-defense, and began withdrawing some troops from Lebanon at 10 p.m. (EDT), three hours early.
But the Israelis did fire rockets into Eastern Lebanon about two hours before the cease-fire was supposed to begin. They also dropped leaflets in Beirut warning they’d retaliate against any attack.
Earlier, Olmert said the cease-fire agreement would ensure that “Hezbollah won’t continue to exist as a state within a state.”
Hezbollah and Israeli forces continued to slug it out before the deadline.
Israeli air raids killed at least 22 people yesterday while Hezbollah fired more than 250 rockets into Israel, the largest single-day total yet. An 82-year-old man died.
Five Israeli soldiers were killed, members of a helicopter crew struck by a ground missile, and 25 were wounded yesterday.
Earlier yesterday, the Lebanese Cabinet canceled a critical meeting that was to discuss the deployment of 15,000 of the country’s troops to southern Lebanon, a key part of the cease-fire deal. Published reports said the Cabinet was sharply divided over demands that Hezbollah surrender its weapons.
The cease-fire also calls for an additional 15,000-man U.N. force, likely to be led by France, to be deployed between the Litani River and the Israeli border, creating an 18-mile buffer zone.
Israel said it hopes the troops will be deployed within a week or two.
“When the Lebanese and multinational force enters, Israel will withdraw and not before,” Israeli Cabinet Minister Yaacov Edri said after the vote.
The debates came a day after Lebanon approved the truce. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah gave his grudging consent but warned, “The war has not ended.”
As the statesmen talked, Haifa was once again pelted by Hezbollah missiles. No casualties were reported.
The Israeli military hammered Hezbollah-held positions in south Beirut. At one point, 23 blasts were heard.
Israeli aircraft launched scores of strikes on more than 50 villages and towns, including the southern city of Tyre, were at least 15 died when gas stations were hit. Three Lebanese soldiers were killed.
Israeli raids in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley last night killed seven.
Fighting was also reported in several southern Lebanon locations, especially in the border village of Aita al-Shaab, where Hezbollah claimed it ambushed an Israeli force and inflicted 25 casualties.
The war has claimed at least 789 people in Lebanon, the vast majority civilians, while 152 Israelis, including 113 soldiers, have died, The Associated Press reported.
The Israeli army estimated that 530 Hezbollah fighters have been killed and that it has verified 180 of those deaths.
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Latest developments
* Northern border: 250 Katyusha missiles rain in, killing an elderly Israeli man and wounding 53 in various locations.
* Tyre : Israeli jets hit gas stations, killing at least 15.
* Haifa: Hit with numerous missiles. Only victims are those treated for shock.
* Aita al-Shaab: Hezbollah ambush inflicts 25 casualties on Israeli forces, terror group claims.
* South Beirut: Israeli jets pound Hezbollah strongholds with a barrage of 23 missiles in two minutes. Eight buildings are collapsed. Body of a child seen being removed from the wreckage.
* Bekaa Valley: Israeli raids kill seven.
Truce began at 1 a.m. today.