MARJAYOUN, Lebanon (Reuters) - Israel's hopes of an orderly withdrawal from Lebanon appeared to be disintegrating Monday as its South Lebanon Army (SLA) militia fled in the face of advancing Hizbollah guerrillas.
The Israeli army said Prime Minister Ehud Barak had ordered it to be ready to end the 22-year-old occupation as early as June 1--five weeks ahead of his promised deadline.Witnesses said SLA militiamen fled to seek asylum in Israel as Iranian-backed Hizbollah fighters took over several abandoned villages around Taibeh, close to the border.
Touring northern Israel, Barak acknowledged that the SLA had abandoned some outposts and said there had been "a certain weakening" in other areas.
Israeli forces would change their own deployment to protect the border, Barak said.
The deteriorating situation in south Lebanon combined with a surge of violence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip dealt a double blow to his pledge to make 2000 a year of Middle East peace.
The former general is embattled on both the Lebanese and Palestinian fronts after choosing to withdraw unilaterally from Lebanon rather than make more concessions to Syria, the power broker in Lebanon, in failed peace talks.
"Security reasons brought the Israelis into Lebanon and insecurity reasons are taking the Israelis out. This has nothing to do with peace," said Lebanon expert Ghassan Salame.
The Hizbollah advance cut Israel's so-called "security zone" in southern Lebanon in half for the first time since it was formed in 1985.
"We are regaining our occupied land by force after the entire world did not bring it to us," Hizbollah official Nabil Kawook said in a triumphant statement.
Witnesses said the families of SLA militiamen, including senior commanders, were queuing at Turmous Crossing on the Israel-Lebanon border for permits to enter Israel, while army radio said another 100 Lebanese were waiting to cross elsewhere.
The witnesses said militiamen were gathering at Israeli bases on the border and rows of abandoned cars could be seen around one of the military installations.
The Israeli air force bombed artillery pieces abandoned by the SLA as Hizbollah fighters moved into outposts previously controlled by Israel and the SLA, an Israeli military statement said.
"The battery was abandoned by SLA soldiers in the morning and attacked so that it wouldn't fall into the hands of hostile elements," the statement said.
Residents of northern Israel were ordered into bomb shelters, a routine precaution when the army expects Hizbollah to fire Katyusha rockets across the border in retaliation for civilian casualties in Lebanon.
Security sources said two Lebanese civilians were killed by SLA fire in Meis ej-Jabal village. But reports of casualties were relatively light amid artillery exchanges, Israeli air strikes and bombardment by Israeli gunboats off the coast.
The accelerating collapse of the "security zone" increased pressure on United Nations special envoy Terje Roed-Larsen to put in place security arrangements after the Israeli withdrawal.
Prospects of a beefed-up U.N. interim force in Lebanon taking charge of border security look increasingly dim as Hizbollah advanced into areas vacated by Israel and the SLA.
Hizbollah, which has gained prestige by spearheading resistance to the occupation, has made clear it will go on fighting unless Israel hands over a disputed area claimed by Lebanon but captured by the Israelis from Syria in 1967.
To ram home the point, guerrillas attacked the disputed Shebaa Farms area at the foot of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights for the first time Sunday.
Larsen said last week the United Nations had yet to decide on the area's sovereignty and diplomats said he was unlikely to recommend in favor of Lebanon when he reports to the Security Council this week.
Opinion polls show two-thirds of Israelis support a unilateral pullout from Lebanon, where Israeli soldiers have been under almost daily guerrilla attack.
But the army is determined to conduct an orderly withdrawal and avoid the appearance of a rout which security analysts say would embolden Israel's foes across the Middle East.
Israeli Justice Minister Yossi Beilin, who first advocated a unilateral pullout from Lebanon, insisted in a television interview that SLA men would be given shelter in Israel if they wanted it, at least until the situation calmed down.
"Not one of them is being abandoned, albeit there are those who want to stay in Lebanon," Beilin said.
Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh warned that Israel could go back into Lebanon if Hizbollah was not prevented from occupying villages close to the border.
Barak ordered his negotiators home from peace talks with the Palestinians in Stockholm Sunday after nine days of violent protests over demands that Israel free 1,650 prisoners. The demonstrations had resulted in clashes between Israeli soldiers and armed Palestinians.
The Israeli leader also canceled plans to travel to the United States for negotiations on an outline final status peace agreement with the Palestinians.