Although most guns fell silent, many predicted trouble, with Hezbollah and tens of thousands of Israeli troops remaining in southern Lebanon, within yards of each other.

Within hours of the UN-sponsored truce coming into force at 8am (6am BST), Israeli soldiers killed six suspected Hezbollah guerrillas, claiming that they acted in self-defence.

With about 1,110 Lebanese and 156 Israelis killed, both sides were counting the cost. Beirut and many towns across southern Lebanon have been shattered by Israeli bombs, tanks, artillery shells and bulldozers. Israel has suffered rocket damage to homes, offices, hospitals and schools.

Despite the human cost, both sides were swift to claim success last night. In a typically grandstanding performance on the Hezbollah al-Manara television station, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, said that his guerrillas had achieved a “strategic, historic victory” against Israel by holding it at bay longer than the combined Arab armies in previous wars. He also rejected any immediate discussion of disarming Hezbollah.

Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister, insisted that the month-long military campaign meant that Hezbollah could no longer act like a “state within a state”.

However, during a stormy session of the Israeli Parliament, he was forced to admit shortcomings amid domestic anger that his Government had failed to crush Hezbollah or to eradicate the missile threat to northern Israel.

He was attacked by Binyamin Netanyahu, the opposition leader, for “failures in identifying the threat, failures in preparing to meet the threat, failures in the management of the war [and] failures in the management of the home front”.

President Bush said last night that the conflict, for which he blamed Hezbollah, was part of a broader struggle. “Responsibility for the suffering of the Lebanese people also lies with Hezbollah’s state sponsors, Iran and Syria,” he said. “Lebanon can’t be a strong democracy when there is a state within a state and that’s Hezbollah.”

Diplomats urgently sought to speed up the arrival of multinational peacekeepers. Negotiations continued in Beirut to persuade Hezbollah to disarm and move out of the area south of the Litani river, as the UN deal demands. Elias Murr, the Lebanese Defence Minister, said last night that he would deploy 15,000 Army troops to the north side of the river by the end of the week.

Nabih Berri, Lebanon’s most influential Shia politician, is in talks with Hezbollah over a facesaving arrangement that would let Hezbollah stash their armoury farther north and leave southern Lebanon “arms-free”.

A white Israeli surveillance blimp was flying high above the Lebanese border yesterday, a symbol of the mistrust and suspicion surrounding the uneasy ceasefire. The Israelis urged Lebanese civilians not to return to southern Lebanon, warning them that it was not safe. Two civilians were killed and five wounded yesterday when Israeli cluster bombs exploded.

Israeli commanders also said that their troops had been ordered not to open fire unless they came under threat.

Government officials in Beirut said that there were hopes for a swift release of the two kidnapped Israeli soldiers, possibly this week. They disclosed that a German diplomat has been secretly negotiating to exchange them for three Lebanese prisoners in Israeli jails.

SHARON WORSENS

Jerusalem: Ariel Sharon has contracted double pneumonia and his condition has deteriorated, the hospital treating the former Israeli Prime Minister said yesterday.

Mr Sharon, 78, is in the Sheba Medical Centre near Tel Aviv. He was moved there from Hadassah hospital in Jerusalem, where he was initially treated after suffering a brain haemorrhage and falling into a coma in January. (Reuters)

Times Recommends

• Zardari still has to tackle tough questions
• Material evidence 'debunks' Turin Shroud
• BBC criticised over Uganda gay execution poll