Gunmen, unaccountable to any central authority, had freedom of action and their attacks sparked large-scale hostilities including the latest war. The lone vintage truck now signaled the central government was extending its sovereignty right up to the international border.

Some 10,000 United Nations peacekeepers are backing that army. Hezbollah guerrillas no longer appear armed and uniformed but the Israelis have no illusions. Hezbollah is there. Some of its men live in the area's villages.

Dani Berkovich, a research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv, doubted the Lebanese government would try to disarm Hezbollah. The army is bigger and better equipped than the Muslim Shiite militia, but by and large is not well trained and lacks combat experience.

Moreover, Hezbollah warned the government not to gather intelligence on it nor seize its arms, Berkovich noted.

Many Arabs believe Hezbollah won this summer's 33-day war, proving that there is hope for an entrenched guerrilla force with short-range rockets.

Hezbollah had six years to build that capability. Since Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon, in May 2000, it had been careful not to provoke hostilities. It did not stop Hezbollah from establishing positions right beside the border fence nor stop it from building fortifications. Hezbollah dug bunkers, embedded launchers in concrete slabs that lay flat on the ground, under foliage, and were to be poised with hydraulic arms only before launching the missiles.

It was "the dream of every general" ordered to defend an area, according to Lt. Col. Guy Hazoot, chief of staff of Israel's 91st division that is deployed along the border with Lebanon. Then came the war and Israel learnt its lesson.

Hazoot stopped near a ruined Hezbollah position at Jebel Blatt. "We'll not give Hezbollah the possibility to sit on this hill again," he declared.

The army has a "changed operational concept," Hazoot announced. Israel would try to stop Hezbollah through UNIFIL and the Lebanese army but if that fails, will "attack to destroy this infrastructure."

This no-presence-zone might extend a few miles into southern Lebanon, he indicated.

Officers are now making contingency plans for another round of hostilities. It could develop locally but escalate to draw in more "players," the army said. Syria and Iran have been backing Hezbollah.

In a conference the Institute for National Security Studies held last week, reserve Brig. Gen. Shlomo Brom, an intelligence officer who headed the military's Strategic Planning Division, said that Arab armies realized they could not overcome Israel's superiority in a conventional war.

The last Lebanon war underlined Israel's advantage, he said. In 34 minutes Israel's air force destroyed most of Hezbollah's long-range missiles. Then the air force struck every vehicle from which a missile was launched. It was done within minutes, he said.

Every serious military man understands the significance of that achievement and what can happen to Syria's armored divisions, Brom said.

That is why he expected Israel's enemies to resort to weapons of mass destruction, if a war erupts, or limit hostilities to "guerrilla or terror warfare." Then they would use tactics that a regular military force would find difficult to challenge, unable to use all its might. New technologies allow for small weapons such as anti-tank rockets that can be carried and can penetrate tanks, he noted.

In such a low-intensity conflict the weaker, more provocative side can challenge the more powerful force, said retired Maj. Gen. David Ivri, a former deputy chief of general staff.

Speaking at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem Sunday, Ivri noted Palestinians used suicide bombers, roadside bombs and other means and when Israel found a way to cope with one method, they moved to another. Usually those groups are more flexible and have fewer restraints, Ivri said.

The last war proved air power alone couldn't decide the conflict. The air force destroyed Hezbollah's long-range missiles but Hezbollah maintained a daily barrage of 100 to 200 short-range rockets. Only when ground forces occupied launching areas did shooting stop from there but Hezbollah then fired from positions beyond the Litani River. That is why Kiryat Shmona was shelled so heavily at the end of the war. It was the closest area to the launching sites, Hazoot said.

The war was a wake-up call to the ground forces that during the Palestinian intifada (uprising) have been left to "degenerate." Tank crews were sent to police the occupied territories and reservists have not trained in years. Budget cuts contributed to that trend.

That seems to be changing.

Now the army wants more Merkava tanks. It believes they are the best protected tanks in the world and if used correctly can withstand enemy rockets, Ha'aretz reported. Israel will also try to develop systems to intercept incoming rockets and has shelved plans to shorten compulsory military service. For the time being, recruits will continue serving for three full years and more reservists will be called up for training.

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