Tanks and armored vehicles moved back into southern Lebanon on Thursday.

Lebanese troops have begun deploying to the south of the country under a UN resolution that ended the Israel Hezbollah conflict. It's the first time Lebanon's national army has moved in force to a region that has been held by Hezbollah since Israel's military withdrawal six years ago.(Photo: CCTV) Photo Gallery >>>

    Early in the day, the vanguard of the force crossed the Litani River at its mouth on the Mediterranean coastline some thirty kilometers north of the Israeli border.

    Flatbed trucks carrying a total of twenty tanks arrived in the town of Marjay-oun, a key town near the Israeli border that was briefly occupied by Israeli forces during their incursion into Lebanon last week.

    The Lebanese army was also deployed in the Chebaa area for the first time in forty years.

    Lebanese resident Khalil Barze said:"We want to deploy the troops as quickly as possible. People want to rest. Every ten years there is a war. We build, and invest years, and then after ten years, there's another war. Our life has been like this since 1948."

    Under the deployment plan, the troops are expected to take positions along roads and main intersections in southern towns and villages.

    Lebanese troops and armored vehicles also arrived in the port city of Tyre by ship.

    Under the cease fire agreement that has been in effect since Monday, Israel has to transfer control of its positions in southern Lebanon to the UN peacekeeping force known as UNIFIL which will then turn them over to the Lebanese army.

    The UN plan calls for the Lebanese force to reach fifteen thousand and will eventually be joined by an equal number of international peacekeepers to patrol the region between the Israeli border and the Litani River.

    Also on Thursday, the European Union commissioner for development and humanitarian aid, Louis Michel, urged Hezbollah to disarm to prevent future escalation of violence along the border.

    At least one thousand, one hundred and ten people in Lebanon and over a hundred and fifty Israelis have been killed in the conflict that erupted after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross border raid in July.

    (Source: CCTV.com)