Israel Ends Fighting With More Killings

An Israeli air strike on a van on the outskirts of the eastern city of Baalbek killed seven people minutes just before the truce began, Lebanese medical sources told Reuters.

Security sources said the van was transporting policemen, soldiers and civilians.

Air strikes on a village near Lebanon's eastern border with Syria killed at least nine civilians also hours before the end of hostilities, medics said.

A policeman died in another strike in the area and one person was killed in a raid on a Palestinian refugee camp, security sources said.

There were no reports of any Hizbullah rockets being fired at Israel after the truce took hold.

At least 38 Lebanese civilians had been killed Sunday, August13 , as fighter jets pounded Beirut and other targets across the country after some of the most intense fighting of the 34 -day conflict.

Around1 , 100people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 156 Israelis, including 116 soldiers, have been killed in the war.

More than900 , 000Lebanese people have been displaced by the Israeli bombardments that have also destroyed thousands of homes, dozens of bridges and hundreds of kilometers (miles) of roads

Council resolution adopted on Friday, August11 , to end the fighting, Israeli forces must start to withdraw as around 15 , 000foreign peacekeeping troops and15 , 000Lebanese soldiers arrive in the south.

The Lebanese government has said it accepts the UN resolution although it has some reservations. Hizbullah has said it will cooperate with the peacekeeping force and Lebanese troops that deploy in the south.

Partial Pullout

Israel said it would not lift its air and sea blockade of Lebanon for now.

"The air and sea closure will continue until a mechanism is in place to oversee and stop weapons smuggling," an Israeli military source told Reuters.

Israel said some soldiers began pulling out of Lebanon after the truce began.

"There are forces going out but there are enough forces that are staying," a military spokesman told Reuters.

Top Israeli army generals has recommended that once the cease-fire takes effect, Israel should begin withdrawing its forces from Lebanon relatively quickly.

The intention is for the forces to move back to a line north of the border with Lebanon within about 10 days, or as soon as the Lebanese army is ready to begin entering south Lebanon, Haaretz reported.

Senior Israeli army officers said Sunday that once the Lebanese army is fully deployed in the south, together with a beefed-up UNIFIL force, the Israeli army will withdraw completely.

The UN resolution calls for15 , 000foreign troops and15 , 000Lebanese soldiers to be deployed in southern Lebanon.

Morocco, Indonesia, Italy, Turkey, Spain and Malaysia have already agreed to send troops to bolster the UN force, Lebanon said.

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