The UN’s special co-ordinator for Lebanon said he plans to visit Israel next week with the UN commander in southern Lebanon to discuss Israel’s decision “in principle” to pull troops out of the northern half of a village that straddles the border.

Israel agreed today to pull its troops out of the northern half of a village which straddles the border with Lebanon, defusing a long-standing political dispute but frightening villagers who do not want their community divided.

Italian prime minister Romano Prodi visited his country’s peacekeepers in south Lebanon today, becoming the first head of government to visit the region since the Israel-Hezbollah war.