UN: IDF withdraws from five S. Lebanese villages

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
IDF forces have withdrawn from five villages in southern Lebanon and UN troops have set up new checkpoints as Lebanese troops rolled into the area, witnesses and the UN peacekeeping mission said Tuesday. A UNIFIL statement said the villages Israeli troops withdrew from included Beit Lif, al-Qawzah, Dibel, Ein Ibel, Mhaibeb, all located in the southeast corner of Lebanon near the larger town of Bint Jbail. "The UNIFIL Ghanaian Battalion established seven new checkpoints and carried out intensive patrolling in the area, confirming that IDF were no longer present there," UNFIL said in a statement. Afterward, around 250 Lebanese soldiers moved into the areas, including al-Qawzah, Dibel, Ein Ibel, witnesses and Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported.