Israel lifts Lebanon naval blockade
UN- backed flotilla of ships begins patrolling

Beirut—Israel lifted its naval blockade of Lebanon on Friday after European warships began patrolling to keep out weapons shipments for Hezbollah guerrillas, the head of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon said.

Maj. Gen. Alain Pellegrini, the force’s French commander, said he was informed by Israeli officials, and by the Italian commander leading the naval task force, that the blockade had ended after nearly two months.

The international task force began operating off the Lebanese coast just after noon Friday, officials said.

“The force is now operational and I understand that the (Israeli) naval blockade is lifted,” Pellegrini said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press.

Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said she didn’t have immediate confirmation that the final order had been given to Israeli forces to end the blockade off Lebanon’s ports. But she said earlier Friday that the blockade would end within hours.

The lifting of the blockade brings Israel’s campaign against Hezbollah guerrillas closer to an end, and allows desperately needed reconstruction projects to proceed freely. Israel now must withdraw its last troops, to be replaced by up to 15,000 Lebanese soldiers backed by an equal number of international forces in southern Lebanon under an Aug. 14 truce.Israeli officials said that could happen within two weeks.

Israel sealed off Lebanon by air and sea at the start of its war against Hezbollah to keep Syria and Iran from resupplying it with arms. Israel, yielding to intense international pressure, ended its air blockade of Lebanon on Thursday, but said it would maintain the naval blockade until international peacekeeping vessels arrived to monitor the seas.

At a meeting Thursday, Israeli security officials said the target was to have the remaining thousands of troops out by the Jewish New Year, which begins the evening of Sept. 22, security officials said.

Israel has been gradually pulling out its soldiers — whose number peaked at 30,000 at the war’s end — as international replacements arrive.

About 3,250 U.N. troops are now in place. On Thursday, the Spanish parliament voted to contribute 1,100 soldiers to the peacekeeping mission, and the first troops were to set off on Friday.

In related news, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has signaled that Israel might cede disputed territory to Lebanon if the Lebanese carry out all provisions of the cease-fire agreement, including disarming Hezbollah.

In a meeting with Russian Minister Sergey Lavrov on Thursday, Olmert said if the U.N. decides the area is Lebanese, and if Lebanon fully implements a U.N. resolution ending the war, then Israel would agree to put the matter on the table, government officials said.

When Israel withdrew its troops from southern Lebanon in 2000, ending an 18-year occupation, the U.N.-drawn international line did not put Chebaa Farms in Lebanese territory, but in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in 1967, and later annexed.

The Lebanese have disputed this ruling, and Israel and Hezbollah have clashed in the territory since the withdrawal. Under the Aug. 14 cease-fire, the U.N. agreed to review the line within 30 days.

Since the cease-fire, Olmert repeatedly pledged to bring the men home safely, and Annan has appointed a mediator to handle indirect talks between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah has said it would free the two only in exchange for Arab prisoners held by Israel. Israeli publicly has demanded the soldiers’ unconditional release, but in the past has exchanged prisoners.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces have withdrawn from more areas in southern Lebanon as UN troops took over their positions ahead of handing them over to Lebanese army units, the world body said Friday.

“I welcome the further withdrawal of the IDF (Israeli Defence Forces) from South Lebanon in line with UN Security Council Resolution 1701,” said Major-General Alain Pellegrini, Force Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), referring to the text which ended the 34-day conflict between Israel and Hezbollah.

“This shows that the process is working and that regular contacts between the UNIFIL, the LAF (Lebanese Armed Forces) and the IDF seed results,” he added. Today, the IDF withdrew from the general area of Al Bayyadah, Tayr Harfa, Shinin, Al Jibbayn, Bustan, Yarin and Al Duhayrah.

UNIFIL set up checkpoints and deployed patrols in the areas left by the Israeli army to ensure no IDF troops remained, the Force said in a press release, adding that it expects Lebanese forces to take control of these areas in the next 24 hours.

A UN-backed flotilla of ships began patrolling the Lebanese coast on Friday in line with a truce that ended Israel’s war on Hezbollah, paving the way for a full end to a punishing eight-week blockade.

“The sea and air blockade has ended,” said Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema, whose country is leading the naval force tasked with preventing weapons smuggling to the Shiite Muslim guerrillas of Hezbollah.

However, Israel said that while the Italian-led force had begun its deployment, the full embargo had not yet been lifted.

“We have not stopped our naval blockade but we’re hopeful it will be in a few hours,” said Miri Eisen, spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office.—Agencies