Lebanese Flood Back to Their Homes Hours After Ceasefire
Also in the south, at least one child was killed and 15 people were wounded by ordnance that exploded as they returned to their homes, security officials said.
Lines of cars -- some loaded with mattresses and luggage -- snaked slowly around bomb craters and blasted bridges to try to reach parts of the south for their first view of what is left of their homes and property.
Hundreds also crossed back in cars or on foot from Syria where they had taken refuge since the beginning of the conflict on July 12.
The rush to return and rebuild came despite a standoff that threatened to keep the cease-fire from taking root.
The Israeli military said Monday it maintained its ban on vehicle movement in the south despite the cessation of hostilities.
In the first shooting incident, which occurred three hours after the ceasefire, the Israeli army said a group of Hizbullah fighters were approaching an Israeli position near the village of Hadatha "in a threatening way," which prompted the soldiers to open fire "in self-defense."
Six hours later, Israeli troops killed a second Hizbullah fighter just south of the Litani, an Israeli army spokesman said.
Israel has said its forces will remain in the south until the Lebanese army and a peacekeeping force are deployed there. Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, has asserted that his fighters would continue targeting Israeli troops until they withdraw.
Telecommunications Minister Marwan Hamadeh said Lebanese soldiers could move into south Lebanon as early as Wednesday. The U.N. plan calls for a joint Lebanese-international force to move south of the Litani and stand as a buffer between Israel and Hizbullah.
"The Lebanese army is readying itself along the Litani to cross the river in 48 to 72 hours," Hamadeh told France's Europe-1 radio station.
Such an advance could put an Israeli withdrawal into motion.
But it appeared Israeli forces were staying put for the moment. Some soldiers left Lebanon early Monday, but were being replaced by fresh troops.
Israel also would maintain its air and sea blockade of Lebanon to prevent arms from reaching Hizbullah fighters, Israeli army officials said.
The Israeli army asserted that its ban on vehicles traveling south of the Litani River would remain in effect until a mechanism is in place to prevent transporting arms to Hizbullah.
"We maintained this measure, which has been enforced since August 7, to prevent possible arms supplies from reaching Hizbullah," an army spokesman told AFP.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev told CNN that he advises people "to be cautious" while traveling south of the Litani as the ceasefire is still in its early stage.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gave the order Sunday to halt firing as of Monday morning, his spokesman Asaf Shariv said. However, "If someone fires at us we will fire back," he added.
In Beirut -- where Hizbullah strongholds in southern suburbs came under relentless Israeli attacks -- street life cautiously returned. Traffic was heavier and some stores reopened.
Television stations showed people rummaging through the rubble looking for possible belongings buried under the debris. Others waded through mounds of concrete to climb into their flats through the blown out facades of half demolished buildings.
Acting Interior Minister Ahmed Fatfat issued a statement urging civilians to stay away from their homes until army engineers could inspect them for unexploded cluster bombs or artillery.
A young girl was killed and five others were wounded in the village of Habboush near the town of Nabatiyeh where a man was also wounded when he picked up an object which looked like a stone and it exploded.
A woman was wounded in Yohmur, and a rescue worker was hurt in Kfar Jouz by artillery that exploded while he was inspecting homes in the area, security officials said.
Hizbullah supporters handed out leaflets to those traveling to the south saying: "Congratulations to you on the big victory."
In the final hours before the truce, Israeli warplanes struck a van carrying soldiers and police in Baalbek killing seven people and a Palestinian refugee camp in the south, killing one person and wounding three others, security officials said.
The air strikes continued until 15 minutes before the truce went into force, destroying an antenna for Hizbullah's Al-Manar television in mountains southeast of Beirut.(AP-Naharnet-AFP)
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