A day after the last Israelis left, the Lebanese government declared a national holiday yesterday and began despatching troops to the northern fringes of the defunct Israeli "security zone" - in its first tentative moves towards re-establishing sovereignty over a region that had been occupied by Israel for the past two decades.
The troops deployed in mainly Christian villages in the south, where many villagers say they are living in fear of the pro-Iranian Muslim Hizbullah movement, whose guerrillas played the key role in forcing Israel to retreat from the zone.
But Lebanon's Prime Minister, Mr Salim Hoss, paying his first visit to the area, had nothing but praise for Hizbullah and reassurance for the Christians.
Hizbullah, he said, "will be co-operating with the United Nations force when it deploys, and will be co-operating with the government."
A United Nations envoy, Mr Terje Larsen, indeed, held meetings in Beirut yesterday and was heading south to the international border, in order to confirm that the Israeli withdrawal has been completed, and thus to pave the way for the deployment of a beefed-up UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping force.
In the interim, the border area between Israel and Lebanon is tense and, frequently, surreal. Just yards apart now, Hizbullah supporters on their side, and Israeli soldiers on theirs, face off against each other.
All day yesterday, groups of Hizbullah supporters and activists taunted the Israelis, one youth screaming for the benefit of the massed media ranks that "you will die, one by one". To underline the point, a car drove along the border road, on the Lebanese side, with a rocket-launcher mounted upon it.
An Israeli farmer, gazing across the fence, remarked that he'd just spotted a south Lebanese man who, until last week, had crossed the border daily to work in his field, now brandishing a Hizbullah flag.
Israel's Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, who ordered the withdrawal, received a relatively warm welcome in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona yesterday, where the Knesset held a first-ever session outside Jerusalem in a display of solidarity with the citizens who now find themselves on the front line.
Opinion polls show most Israelis feel more supportive of Mr Barak as a consequence of the pullout, and he was in confident mood as, from the temporary Knesset podium, he called on Mr Hoss and the rest of the Lebanese leadership to "seize the moment" to make peace with Israel. "Israel stretches out its hand in peace," he declared. "Israel is no enemy of Lebanon."
True to form, however, Mr Barak also reiterated his warning that any cross-border violence would be regarded as an "act of war" and that Israel's retaliation would likely extend to Syrian targets.
In a clear effort to deprive Hizbullah of any pretext for further violence, Mr Barak on Wednesday ordered the evacuation and demolition of a final Israeli army outpost on the eastern Lebanese-Syrian border.
Such conciliation infuriated the Israeli opposition leader, Mr Ariel Sharon, who complained yesterday that, while he backed the unilateral withdrawal, Israel should have pounded Hizbullah into submission before leaving.
Mr Barak might have pointed out that it was Mr Sharon who dragged Israel deep into Lebanon in the first place, as the defence minister who launched the 1982 invasion. But he chose merely to observe that he had eschewed the idea of mounting "a scorched earth" policy before the pullout, in the hope that Israel's withdrawal might now usher in an era of peace.
Reuters adds: Israel's attorney-general recommended yesterday that the Transport Minister, Gen Yitzhak Mordechai, stand trial for having sexually assaulted three women over the past eight years.
Gen Mordechai heads the six-member Centre party which is one of Mr Barak's coalition partners, but the case is not expected to make any political waves.
The Justice Ministry said officials would ask that Gen Mordechai's parliamentary immunity be lifted so he could stand trial for sexual assault, indecent acts and sexual harassment.
If convicted, Gen Mordechai could face up to seven years in prison.