Israeli army not likely to leave Lebanon by weekend

JERUSALEM — Israel's army chief said Wednesday his nation's troops were unlikely to withdraw from Lebanon by the weekend because final details remained to be worked out with the U.N. peacekeepers taking their place.

The delay came even as the international peacekeeping mission grew to 5,000 troops, the number Israel said was needed before it could pull out of southern Lebanon. The force, known as UNIFIL, will eventually number 15,000.

Israel's troop presence in southern Lebanon had been as large as 30,000 during the fighting against Hezbollah guerrillas. But the army has slowly withdrawn the soldiers since a cease-fire took effect on Aug. 14, and international peacekeepers and the Lebanese army began deploying.

Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz told Israeli lawmakers Tuesday that he hoped to bring the last soldier home before the start of the Jewish New Year, Rosh Hashanna, which begins Friday evening. But Wednesday, he said that timetable did not appear realistic because of ongoing talks with peacekeepers.

The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began July 12 when the Lebanese guerrilla group crossed the border and attacked an army patrol, capturing two Israeli soldiers. The fighting ended after 34 days with more than 850 Lebanese and 150 Israelis killed.

Also Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas while both were in New York for the U.N. General Assembly session and said they had agreed "to re-energize the dialogue between us, and create a permanent channel to pursue ways to advance together."

In a speech to the General Assembly, Livni said Israel believed in a vision of two states — Israel and Palestine — living side by side in peace and security.

But such a solution requires that each state should be the solution for its own refugees — Israel as a homeland for Jewish refugees from around the world; and the future State of Palestine the answer for Palestinian refugees.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes in the 1948 Middle East War that followed the establishment of Israel. The Palestinians continue to demand a right of return for refugees and descendants to their original homes, now in Israel.

Meanwhile, commitments to the international force in Lebanon continued to grow Wednesday, with German lawmakers approving the deployment of warships to Lebanon's coast to stop arms shipments to Hezbollah.

Wary of its Nazi past and the Holocaust, Germany ruled out sending ground troops to southern Lebanon to ensure that German soldiers do not get caught up in any confrontation with Israeli forces.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany's history obligated it to help stabilize the region because Israel — as well as Lebanon — had given its approval for the naval mission.

That was "a signal of trust in Germany, in the country in whose name the destruction of the Jews and World War II began," Merkel said.