Israel pulls out from south Lebanon position

BEIRUT: Israeli forces pulled back on Saturday from one of two positions it had been occupying inside southern Lebanon for three days, a UN spokesman said.

"The Israelis have abandoned the position of Marwaheen, about a few hundred meters inside Lebanese territory, by pulling out two tanks which had taken up position there for three days," Milos Strugar, spokesman for the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), said.

 "They kept four tanks in the village of Marun Al-Ras," in the central sector of southern Lebanon, he said.

The Israeli military confirmed on Saturday that its ground forces have held positions in two villages in southern Lebanon for several days.

Israeli troops have for the past several days held positions in two Lebanese villages close to Israel's northern border, a military spokesman said.

Israeli forces have been mounting incursions into Lebanon since the Shiite militant group Hezbollah captured two soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid on July 12.