Hopes continue to rise here that a lasting peace may be establishing itself following Israel's withdrawal of its forces from the 50 km-long border area inside Lebanon and the collapse of its surrogate force, the South Lebanon Army (SLA).
The area, the scene of two decades of conflict, was yesterday in a festive mood as thousands of Lebanese people flocked south to traverse roads closed since the expulsions of large parts of the local population in the late 1970s.
Yesterday Irish UN soldiers patrolled within less than a kilometre of the Israeli border for the first time since coming here with UNIFIL in 1978.
Two Irish armoured personnel carriers (APCs) and a light armoured vehicle with an antitank gun travelled for about 10 km on roads parallel to the border. No violent incidents have been reported in this area since Tuesday morning.
The week had started with a burst of fighting. Six people were killed and 20 injured, including a 15-year-old girl who lost a leg when she stepped on a mine near an abandoned Israeli position.
Last evening the Irish Battalion commander, Lieut Col Chris Moore, received instructions from UNIFIL headquarters outlining his soldiers' new area of operations. The Irish Battalion area now extends for about 10 km along the Israeli border.
Lieut Col Moore said he was confident the peace would hold. He said: "The situation is calm. My belief is that it will remain calm. I don't think the Hizbullah have any intention of breaking this situation.
"I think they are more interested in doing well in the elections that are coming up in August or September. They have behaved in a disciplined way this week. They took into their custody the fleeing SLA troops and immediately handed them unharmed over to the Lebanese army, who took them away to Tyre."
Commenting on suggestions that the militant Islamic elements in Hizbullah would target the Christian communities in the former Israeli-controlled area, Lieut Col Moore said the Hizbullah had given assurances to the Christian communities through locally respected figures that they would not be harmed.
"The Hizbullah have given their word and reassure the Christian villages that they are in no harm. The sheikhs have met the villagers and say that from now on Hizbullah will regard the Christians as Lebanese citizens and take no action against them."
Lieut Col Moore was yesterday informed the Irish Battalion would be required to patrol an area more than double the size it currently does. He said there was an urgent need for additional APC crews. The Government is to decide at Tuesday's Cabinet meeting.
The increased Irish area of responsibility runs along a stretch of the border from the village of Blida, in the east, to Ayn Ibil, in the west.