The Israeli army denies withdrawing from two-thirds of south Lebanon, says less than half handed over till now

debkafile reports Israeli forces handed over the Hatzbani plain between the river and the Hermon slopes in the eastern sector to UNIFIL and the Lebanese army Thursday, Aug. 31, after Hizballah forces removed themselves and weapons from the area.
The Hizballah withdrawal included the Shabaa and Shuba enclaves opposite Israeli positions on Mt. Dov. Their positions were taken over by the United Nations Indian brigade.
Our sources report that Hizballah relinquished a presence opposite the disputed Shabaa Farms for the first time in six years as part of its overall redeployment in all of Lebanon. The Hatzbani plain villages are mixed Sunni and Druze with a Shiite minority. Hassan Nasrallah realizes he is short of manpower for retaining control of places where his coreligionists are in the minority
The Israeli withdrawal began after the Aug. 14 truce went into effect, but Israeli troops still control the entire Lebanese-Israeli border line.