ARABS-ISRAEL - Oct 1 - Israel Withdraws Last Troops From Lebanon.

The Israeli army withdraw the last of its forces from south Lebanon in accordance with a UN-brokered ceasefire that came into force on August 14. The pullout followed the deployment in the border region of an expanded international force and units of the Lebanese army in an area that was previously a militarised fiefdom of the Hizbullah movement. With the withdrawal of the last few hundred Israeli soldiers, the army said it now held the Lebanese government responsible for ensuring quiet and security from its territory. Israeli troops would remain in the border village of Gajar, divided by the so-called "blue line" between the two countries, pending agreement on security arrangements there. The departure of the last units, hours before the start of Yom Kippur, the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, ended a painful crisis for both countries. Israel's military response to Hizbullah's kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers on July 12 caused more than 1,000 Lebanese deaths and widespread damage to the country's infrastructure. Although Israel suffered less than a fifth of Lebanese casualties and damage to northern Israel from Hizbullah rocket fire was relatively limited, the war set off a wave of soul-searching and recriminations in Israel. What are widely seen as the military and political failures of the Israeli strategy, which failed to fulfill the original aim of destroying Hizbullah, are the subject of a government-appointed inquiry. The Lebanon crisis forced the international community to take a more direct role in the region by negotiating the terms of a ceasefire and expanding the presence of foreign forces. As US State Sec Condoleezza Rice, prepares for a visit to the region this week, diplomats hope the momentum created by events in Lebanon might be carried over to the even more intractable conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. Her visit coincides with a deteriorating security crisis between rival Palestinian factions in Gaza and warnings from the Israeli military that it was pondering tougher action in the territory to stem almost daily militant rocket attacks into Israel. Dan Halutz, chief of staff, who has faced harsh criticism for his conduct of the Lebanon war, told Israeli Radio on Oct 1: We will have to find a military means to reduce the rocket fire...For example, a more continued and deeper ground action". Amid the threat of an Israeli offensive, rival Palestinian factions clashed in Gaza on Oct 1. At least three people were killed and more than 20 wounded as forces controlled by the ruling Hamas government broke up demonstrations, including one near the parliament building in Gaza, by forces loyal to the rival Fatah movement. The protests were ostensibly aimed at the government's non-payment of salaries to public employees, including the Fatah-dominated security forces. However, the violence followed an escalation in tension between the two parties after their failure to agree on the terms of a national unity government. Witnesses said that elements of the Fatah-linked Preventive Security Force on Oct 1 attacked a Hamas post in Gaza City, prompting a Hamas counter-attack on the house of the Fatah unit's local commander. The tension follows a number of recent attacks that included the assassination of a prominent Fatah-linked intelligence chief, which Fatah blamed on Hamas. The Islamist party has dismissed the attacks as the outcome of conflicts within Fatah.