5,000 “Israeli” troops linger in South – soil transported out and land swallowed up

Source: Daily Star & AP, 25-9-2006
Despite an "Israeli" pledge to withdraw from Lebanese territory once the number of United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon troops reaches 5,000, "Israeli" soldiers remain in their positions in the South on Sunday. A security source told The Daily Star that the "Israeli" Army "will be withdrawing behind the UN-demarcated Blue Line by the end of this month."
The "Israeli" Army has pulled out of some Southern villages, such as Mayss al-Jabal and Mohaibeb, and redeployed to other parts of the South, but it has not withdrawn completely from Lebanese territory.
Meanwhile, the Lebanese Army continues to deploy its troops along the Southern border in the villages which the "Israelis" have already left.
For the first time in three decades, Lebanese Army troops from the 6th Legion reached the Southern border point of Naqoura, south of Tyre, over the weekend and deployed facing the "Israeli" posts there.
The Lebanese Army also deployed in the villages of Labbouneh and Alma, with witnesses on the ground saying that the Labbouneh area, which was once filled with trees "has now been completely bulldozed and torn apart by the "Israelis"."
According to the Lebanese Army, its deployment in the South is being coordinated with the UNIFIL in the area.
As the army deploys its soldiers continue to face problems with cluster bombs and "Israeli" land mines which are threatening the lives of both Lebanese and UNIFIL troops.
Reports that the "Israelis" are also planting land mines as they withdraw have not been verified yet by the UNIFIL or the Lebanese Army.
So far the "Israeli" Army has not handed over all the maps for its cluster-strike locations during its 34-day offensive on Lebanon; neither has the "Israeli" Army given detailed and clear maps to the UNIFIL about its land mines planted in the South.
According to witnesses in the South, "Israel" also continues to steal Lebanon`s water, and is altering the Blue Line and shoveling earth to transport to the "Israeli" side of the border.
"The `Israelis` are still there on the hilltop" border village of Marwahin, said villager Hassan Ali Ghanam, pointing at a rocky hill where an "Israeli" flag floats on a partly destroyed house.
Marwahin is one of the last border areas that "Israeli" troops are still occupying in the western sector of the South since the August 14 end of hostilities.
"The [`Israeli`] soldiers come and go," said Ghanam.
Rumors have been circulating across Southern villages about alleged "Israeli" overnight
Commando operations or modifications of the UN-demarcated Blue Line.
Lebanon has filed a complaint with the UN and UNIFIL about "Israeli" alterations of the Blue Line in which hundreds of square meters of Lebanese territory were "added" to the "Israeli" side. UNIFIL "is looking into the matter," a Lebanese Army source said.
The Lebanese Army has also filed a complaint with UNIFIL about the "Israeli" military`s extending pipelines toward the Wazzani River in South Lebanon, possibly in preparation for drawing water into northern "Israeli" settlements.
"Israel" was diverting water from the Wazzani before it withdrew from most of the South in 2000.
According to eye witnesses and Lebanese Army statements, the "Israelis" are also transporting soil from South Lebanese villages and transporting it to "Israel".