'We can say our gift to the Lebanese this year is peace at the border, and this is why we can say our Christmas has a different meaning this year,' said Massimo, an Italian soldier in the UNIFIL contingent in Tebnine southern Lebanon.

'Peace is the theme for the Christmas holiday..,' said UN spokesman Milos Strugar.

'Since the ceasefire has been imposed, this is the longest period of calm on the border we have registered so far,' Strugar said.

No shooting incidents have been reported across the international line since the UNIFIL force began beefing up with the arrival of French troops on August 19, shortly after a U.N. ceasefire ended this summer's 33-day Israeli-Hezbollah conflict.

The Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers on July 12, aiming to secure a prisoner swap. Israel responded with a massive month-long offensive on Lebanon.

The war ended on August 14, under the terms of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which called for Israel's pullout from south Lebanon and the dispatch of Lebanese army troops in tandem with a deployment of a boosted UN Interim Force in Lebanon UNIFIL

Originally, UNIFIL was created by the Security Council in 1978 to confirm Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon, restore international peace and security and assist the Lebanese Government in restoring its authority in the area.

Following the July-August war, the Council decided to enhance the Force and extend its mandate.

The peacekeepers were tasked to, among other things, monitor the cessation of hostilities, accompany and support the Lebanese armed forces as they deployed throughout the south of Lebanon, and help to ensure humanitarian access to civilian populations and the voluntary and safe return of displaced persons.

Alongside an estimated 15,000 Lebanese soldiers, around 9,700 UNIFIL peacekeepers currently monitors the border with Israel, which has been a flashpoint in the Middle East for decades.

The deployment of the Lebanese army at the Lebanese border, for the first time in decades, 'is a positive development and it facilitates the UN mission in the area,' said Strugar.

Since Israel withdrew from the area in May 2000, Hezbollah took full control of the border. The Lebanese army was kept away and border breaches occured on an almost daily basis between Israel and its staunch enemy, Hezbollah.

Today, the situation looks different due to constant UN patrols.

According to UN and Lebanese army sources, there were seven incidents since September, in which unauthorized arms were found in the area. Most importantly, the Lebanese army on two occasions seized seized Katyusha rockets similar to those used by Hezbollah for attacks on northern Israeli settlements during the 33-day summer war.

Hezbollah has not kept it a secret that the movement still possess some 20,000-30,000 long range missiles.

However, despite the achievements of securing calm and peace at the border, the now French-led peacekeeping mission remains far from complete.

Israeli planes continue to breach Lebanese airspace on an almost daily basis, prompting the UNIFIL force to issue strong warnings against Israel.

However, Israel insisted that its flyovers were to intended to check whether Hezbollah was smuggling weapons into the southern region.

French peacekeepers twice came close to firing at the Israeli jets as they came over their bases, believing the jets were preparing to attack.

Hezbollah's weapons remain a troubling issue for Israel and most of the international world community as well as the current Lebanese western-backed government, as the group has so far refused to hand over its weapons despite UN's calls.

UN Security Council Resolution 1559 has called on the Lebanese government to work on spreading its authority over all Lebanese areas and disarm all foreign (Palestinian) and local (Hezbollah) groups.

'Hezbollah's weapons will remain as long as there is one single Israeli soldiers on our land,' said Hezbollah's southern Lebanon MP Hassan Fadlallah.

Hezbollah has vowed to continue fighting Israel until its troops withdraw from Shebaa Farms. According to the UN, Shebaa was captured by Israel from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. But Lebanon insists - with Syria's consent - that Shebaa is Lebanese and should be returned.

The issue of Hezbollah arms has also divided the country into a pro-Syrian opposition who thinks that the Hezbollah weapons should stay, and the Western-backed anti-Syrian government which says there should only be one armed force in Lebanon - the Lebanese Army.

'Such a division inside Lebanon can have negative results on the mission of the UNIFIL troops, because the main concern of this force is to help Lebanon spread its authority throughout the country,' political analyst George Deeb said.

Although UNIFIL's command recognizes this difficulty, the peacekeepers, who are spending Christmas away from their families on a foreign land, hope that their mission will bring peace to an area that has witnessed much violence over the years.

'Despite that we are spending Christmas away from our families..we are determined to have a good Christmas feast with traditional food like Tortellini in Brodo (filled Pasta parcels in Broth) and our famous Christams cake Pandoro and enjoy the peace which we are securing for the people of this troubled area,' UN Italian peacekeeper, Massimo, Said. -DPA