Jerusalem - Six out of 10 Israelis want their troops out of south Lebanon with or without a deal with Syria, according to an opinion poll published yesterday. The Gallup poll for the newspaper Maariv showed 61 per cent backed a unilateral pullout of troops from an occupation zone in south Lebanon, up from 56 per cent three weeks ago.
The Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, has promised to pull Israeli troops out of the occupied area by July, but prefers to do so after reaching a peace deal with Lebanon and Syria, the main power broker in Lebanon. Public support for an immediate withdrawal has grown since Hizbullah guerrillas killed seven Israeli soldiers starting in January. Israeli retaliatory air raids hit power stations and wounded 20 Lebanese.