BBC News - Aug. 14, 2006
A UN-brokered ceasefire ending more than a month of fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, has come into force.
Israeli air strikes continued until 15 minutes before the truce began, hitting areas in the east and south of Lebanon.
Israel has said its troops will remain in Lebanon until an international peacekeeping force can take control.
More than 1,000 Lebanese and 155 Israelis have been killed since the conflict began on 12 July.
As the ceasefire came into effect at 0500 GMT, Israel said it would continue to maintain an air and sea blockade of Lebanon. It also said troops would return fire if they came under attack.
RESOLUTION: KEY POINTS
Hezbollah must end attacks on Israel
Israel must end offensive military operations
15,000 peacekeepers to enforce ceasefire
Lebanese troops to be deployed to south
Israel to withdraw troops as international force deployed
There was no immediate comment after the ceasefire began from Lebanese officials or from Hezbollah.
Israel`s cabinet overwhelmingly approved the ceasefire plan on Sunday, but Lebanese cabinet talks about disarming Hezbollah were postponed, as fierce fighting continued.
Overnight Israeli raids killed at least seven Lebanese in the east, and one person died in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp near the southern city of Sidon.
Israeli still has thousands of troops deep inside southern Lebanon after expanding its ground offensive throughout the weekend. However, some Israeli forces did start withdrawing as the ceasefire came into effect.
This is not a war of clear-cut positions and front-lines, the BBC`s Jim Muir reports from the Lebanese city of Tyre, and the chances of incidents happening despite the truce are very high.
Most of the many thousands of people who have fled the area will be cautious about starting to return until they have seen the ceasefire hold for at least some days, he adds.
The start of the ceasefire was preceded by a violent day on both sides of the border.
At least 23 civilians were killed in Lebanon, while seven Israeli soldiers were killed in action, and Hezbollah fired 250 rockets into Israel.
Fragile truce
According to the Haaretz newspaper, Mr Olmert ordered Israeli forces to begin observing the terms of the ceasefire at 0200 on Monday (2300 GMT) after meeting with Defence Minister Amir Peretz and senior army staff.
However, the breakdown of Lebanese government discussions could hamper the implementation of the ceasefire, which calls for 15,000 Lebanese troops to replace a disarmed Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah`s leader, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, vowed over the weekend that his fighters would respect the ceasefire but would resist any continued Israeli presence in Lebanon after the deal came into force, raising fears of further clashes.
Some Israeli troops will remain in southern Lebanon to hand over to an international force, and few expect the hours and days after the ceasefire begins to be entirely peaceful.
"You can`t move from black to white easily - there will be a period of grey," said Major General Benny Gantz, the head of Israel`s ground forces.
HAVE YOUR SAY
All Olmert has, like his fellow appeaser Chamberlain before him, is a piece of paper
Mark Robertson, Lisbon, Portugal
Overall the language from both sides suggests nervous times ahead, with both sides on tenterhooks, ready to pounce on anything they see as a ceasefire violation, says the BBC`s Rob Norris in Jerusalem.
Mark Malloch Brown, the UN`s Deputy Secretary General, told the BBC it might take a month before a joint UN-Lebanese force was fully in place.
But EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana suggested that the first international troops could be in place within the next week.
He told Reuters that European nations, notably France and Italy, were ready to send troops to the region.
Other countries, including Malaysia and Indonesia, which do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, were also willing to contribute troops to an international force, Mr Solana said.
