Israelis Start Last Phase of Troop Pullout : Forces Evacuate Tyre; Lebanese Return as Residents Rejoice

TYRE, Lebanon —  Israeli troops began the last phase of their three-phased withdrawal from Lebanon today, withdrawing from the port city of Tyre and surrounding areas and leaving residents dancing in the streets.

Hundreds of jubilant Shia Muslims, many waving pictures of Iran’s Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, welcomed a small detachment of Lebanese troops that moved into Tyre shortly after the last Israeli convoy rumbled out, ending three years of occupation.

Women threw rice and rose water at the government troops.

Armed Shia Amal militiamen who entered Tyre with the Lebanese army joined in the street celebrations. Within hours after the departure of the Israelis, Khomeini posters and green Amal flags were everywhere in Tyre.

Israelis Jubilant

The Israelis left Tyre, 15 miles from Israel, the strategic Qasmiyeh Bridge near Tyre and a string of villages east of the city, moving south to new lines nearer the Israeli border.

The departing Israeli soldiers were jubilant.

“Tell the folks back home we are happy to leave, never to return,” beaming Israeli soldiers told reporters as convoys of armored vehicles began pulling out of southern Lebanon’s second-largest city.

Israeli helicopter gunships covered the retreating troops, Israel radio said. Israeli radio also reported that a 65-pound explosive charge was discovered north of Tyre just before the pullback began. The device was safely dismantled.

Still in Security Strip

The withdrawal left the Israeli army deployed in a security strip ranging from three miles in the west to about 11 miles in the east. Israeli Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin has said Israel will be out of Lebanon by June 1. This weekend, he reiterated that the Israeli Defense Force will remain in the security strip about a month.

Israeli radio reported that U.N. peacekeeping forces reached agreement with the local Shia Amal militia to guard the giant Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidiyeh. It said the agreement was to prevent a repeat of the Christian-Muslim fighting that followed Israel’s February withdrawal from Sidon.

Tyre, a hotbed of Shia Muslim rebel activity about 15 miles from the Israeli border, was the last major city held by Israel, which invaded Lebanon in June, 1982, to drive out Palestine Liberation Organization guerrillas.

About 650 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Lebanon since the invasion.

At the height of the war, Israel controlled more than a third of Lebanon. Now it is down to far less than 10%.