Lebanese Citizens Begin Returning Home As Ceasefire Takes Effect

After a month of vicious fighting, the guns have now gone silent and the bombs have stopped falling.

A United Nations ceasefire took effect Monday morning, bringing the bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas to an end – for now.

More than 900 people have been killed on both sides, and hundreds of thousands were forced to flee their homes.

In Lebanon, news of the ceasefire brought residents of the battle-torn southern region back to see what was left of their neighbourhoods. Cars laden with luggage and mattresses travelled slowly through the streets, past buildings blown apart by bombs and riddled with gunfire.

The country’s interior ministry warned people to stay away from their homes until army engineers could inspect them for unexploded bombs. One child was killed and 15 people were wounded Monday in such a blast.

In northern Israel, there seemed to be more hesitation about returning home. Haifa, which had been struck repeatedly by Hezbollah missiles, remained quiet.

Restaurant owner Ronen Ginsburg said the ceasefire “doesn’t make an impression on anyone. … It will take about a week without a Katyusha rocket for people to go back to their routine.”

The uneasy peace threatened to come apart in its first few hours as Israeli forces stayed put in Lebanon, while Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said he wanted them out of the country.

Israel promised to withdraw only after a UN-approved international peacekeeping force was in place in southern Lebanon along the Lebanon-Israel border to act as a buffer against attacks by the guerrilla fighters. But that could take days, weeks, or even months to accomplish.

The Lebanese military will reportedly take positions along the border until other forces arrive to assist them, however the plan to put them into place was thrown into doubt when the Lebanese cabinet indefinitely postponed a meeting that was to discuss the deployment.

The cabinet is reportedly at odds over ceasefire demands that Hezbollah surrender its arms in the south. Putting the Lebanese army into place is a major facet of the UN ceasefire agreement, passed Friday by the United Nations Security Council. Their army will eventually be joined by international forces that could include troops from France, Italy, Turkey and Malaysia.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert ordered on Sunday that firing come to an end Monday morning.

However, according to his spokesman Asaf Shariv, “if someone fires at us we will fire back.”

On Monday t he Israeli army accused Hezbollah guerrillas of firing at least 10 rockets into southern Lebanon. None of them reached Israel and no injuries were reported, but Hezbollah has said it will attack Israeli forces in the area despite the truce.

Israeli forces also shot at a group of armed Hezbollah fighters just hours into the ceasefire because they were apparently approaching “in a threatening way.”

Both Hezbollah and Israel claimed victory in the conflict, which began July 12 after two Israeli soldiers were kidnapped. The guerrilla fighters handed out pamphlets congratulating Lebanon on a “big victory”, while the Israeli Foreign Ministry said Hezbollah’s “state within a state” had been destroyed.

Lebanon claims 791 citizens have died since fighting began. In Israel 116 soldiers and 39 civilians were reportedly killed in the conflict.

• Meanwhile, about 825 Canadians were taken out of Lebanon Sunday on a ship chartered by Ottawa. Another ship will pick up more Canadian evacuees Tuesday.