Syria has accepted that Israel's withdrawal from south Lebanon is complete, and has dropped its demands that Israel also pull out of a disputed strip of territory on the border between the three countries. Syria and Lebanon had claimed the Shebaa Hamlets were part of Lebanon and that Israel therefore had to withdraw. However, Israel argued they were part of the Golan Heights, which Israel seized from Syria in 1967. Syria has now agreed to this, following UN intervention.
Meanwhile, the EU envoy in the region, Miguel Moratinos, is in Beirut to offer EU assistance in the reconstruction of the south. In South Lebanon, the Lebanese parliament held a meeting today in the former Israeli occupied area for the first time in over two decades.
