Special report: Israel-Lebanon conflicts [Gallery] [Videos]

Israel, Lebanon agree on ceasefire

    BERLIN, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- The German parliament agreed Wednesday to send soldiers as part of a UN peace-keeping force in Lebanon in Germany's first military deployment in the Middle East since World War II.

    Deputies voted 442-152 in favor of the mission, which will see a naval force patrol Lebanese waters to prevent the smuggling of weapons to Hezbollah militants based in Lebanon.

    A first contingent of 1,000 soldiers will leave for the Middle East on Thursday and a total of 2,400 naval personnel will secure Lebanon's coast in what Chancellor Angela Merkel called a mission of "historic dimension."

    "There is perhaps no other area of the world where Germany's unique responsibility, the unique responsibility of every German government to heed the lessons of our past is so clear than it is here," Merkel said in a speech to the Bundestag.

    Germany has been cautious on sending troops to the Middle East in fear of a possible confrontation with Israel after the Nazis killed about 6 million Jews in World War II.

    The United Nations is deploying a 15,000-member peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon under a ceasefire agreement which last month ended fighting between Israel and Hezbollah. Enditem