BEIRUT, Lebanon: Israel began slowly withdrawing its forces from southern Lebanon on Tuesday as Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Monday his fighters had achieved a strategic and historic victory over Israel and that it was the wrong time to publicly discuss disarming the group.

In Held Jerusalem, the Israeli army said it hoped to complete the withdrawal from Lebanon by next week.

Israel's military also made a first gesture at possible post-conflict negotiations. It said it could exchange 13 Hezbollah prisoners and the bodies of dozens of guerrillas for two Israeli soldiers whose capture in a cross-border raid July 12 touched off the fighting.

The army said it had already begun thinning out its forces in Lebanon, but did not give figures. During a final ground offensive, about 30,000 Israeli soldiers were believed to be in southern Lebanon.

By Tuesday, there were no Israeli soldiers or tanks left in the key southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun, Lebanese security officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to give information to the media.