KFAR KILA: Israeli troops withdrew from all but five points in south Lebanon on Tuesday, allowing displaced residents to return to border villages largely destroyed in more than a year of hostilities. Lebanon said any Israeli presence on its soil constituted "occupation", warning it would ask the UN Security Council to push Israel to leave and that its armed forces were ready to assume duties on the border.
Unable to reach Kfar Kila by car because of the destruction and army restrictions, residents parked at the entrance of the village and returned on foot. Israel had announced just before the pullout deadline that it would keep troops in "five strategic points" near the border, and on Tuesday its foreign minister, Gideon Saar, said they would withdraw "once Lebanon implements its side of the deal". — AFP
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