The Irish Battalion area in south Lebanon was reported quiet last night after land held by the Israeli Defence Forces for 22 years was suddenly surrendered and partly retaken by Islamic guerrillas.
The collapse of the Israeli-controlled security zone is now expected to follow quickly on yesterday's events which were largely centred on the central border area where the Irish UN Battalion is stationed.
Yesterday's surrender of land began when about 100 members of the South Lebanon Army (SLA), the Israeli-backed militia, and their families arrived on foot at a checkpoint jointly held by Irish UN and Lebanese army troops. The militia members surrendered to the Lebanese army and were taken northwards out of the area.
Within a short time the SLA also abandoned fortresses near the villages of Haddatah and Biyt Yahoun, which have been at the centre of some of the most intense fighting in the region over the past two decades. One of the most notorious positions held by the SLA, near the village of Rshaf, was also abandoned. The SLA in this position had regularly fired into villages in the Irish Battalion area and was also deemed responsible for firing shells and mortars at UN posts.
Within hours, Islamic fighters from the Hizbullah organisation had moved into one of the fortresses abandoned by the Israelis and SLA. Almost immediately intense shelling broke out from positions still held by the Israelis a few miles south. It was reported that two Hizbullah fighters were killed when an abandoned post near the village of Shaqra, on the edge of the Irish Battalion area, was hit by shelling.
A barrage then started as the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) began destroying the abandoned fortresses held on a line of high ground that runs parallel and north of the Lebanon-Israeli border. This was reported to be continuing last evening although it was having little impact on the posts held by the 560 troops of the Irish UNIFIL Battalion.
Despite the artillery barrage, local Lebanese civilians who had been forced out of their villages when Israel invaded in 1978 began walking back towards their abandoned homes and farms. The UN anticipates that as the Israeli withdrawal gathers speed, this movement back into the occupied zone will also gather momentum.
The UN anticipates that the transitional period will see heightened tension and possible serious violence. UNIFIL is being reinforced with an additional 50 Irish troops next month.
Once Israel withdraws, UNIFIL will also, finally, begin the implementation of the terms of Security Council Resolutions 425 and 426 which were passed in 1978 requiring Israel to withdraw to its international boundary and return the area to UN control in preparation for its eventual return to the Lebanese army. There had been no significant movement towards meeting these UN resolutions until yesterday.