Posted on 08/12/2006 6:01:08 PM PDT by blam
Peace deal on hold as 20 die in bitter fighting
By Colin Freeman in Beirut and Harry De Quetteville on the Lebanon-Israel border
(Filed: 13/08/2006)
At least 20 people were killed in southern Lebanon yesterday as Israel made the deepest incursion of its month-long campaign into Hezbollah-controlled areas, even as both sides indicated a willingness to accept a freshly minted United Nations peace deal.
Within hours of the UN Security Council's unanimous approval of a ceasefire resolution on Friday night, Israel launched fresh air strikes across Lebanon. More than 20,000 Israeli soldiers crossed the border in a race for the River Litani, 18 miles beyond the frontier.
A soldier crouches as Israel's army races for the River Litani
Dan Halutz, the chief of staff for the Israeli Defence Force, said troop numbers in Lebanon had been "tripled" and Gen Alon Friedman, a senior planning officer, said he was prepared for the fighting to last a further seven days.
However, a senior government official said yesterday that Israel plans to halt the advance into Lebanon at 7am tomorrow, but would continue to engage Hezbollah. "This is a phased plan and the first stage allowing us to control the ground could take a few days.
Cleaning-up operations will follow in a stage that could last a few days or a few weeks," said Gen Friedman. Despite that, a cabinet meeting today led by Ehud Olmert, the prime minister, is expected to approve the UN deal, which calls for a full cessation of hostilities followed by the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon "at the earliest" opportunity.
Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's leader, said his group would abide by the resolution but would continue fighting as long as Israeli troops remained in southern Lebanon. Speaking on Hezbollah's al-Manar television channel, he called resistance to the offensive "our natural right" but said the guerrillas would co-operate with Lebanese soldiers and UN troops due to be deployed in the border region.
The resolution calls for a beefed-up UN buffer force, possibly comprising French, Italian, Australian and Turkish troops, to work alongside about 15,000 Lebanese troops, and an end to Hezbollah's armed presence.
"The assumption is that the cabinet will approve the resolution and then a timetable for winding down the military operation will be decided on," said a foreign ministry spokesman, Mark Regev. He expected the timetable to be "swift", taking hold in a few days.
But he added that until today's scheduled cabinet meeting Israel's army would still be acting on orders issued last Wednesday, when Mr Olmert gave the green light to an expanded ground operation that was initially expected to include up to 40,000 soldiers - far more than the number currently in Lebanon.
With the new UN resolution prompting cautious optimism on both sides, there were strong hopes that by later today an end to the immediate crisis could be in sight.
Shimon Peres, Israel's deputy prime minister, said the country had got everything it could realistically expect from the UN. The resolution, he claimed, "vindicates Israel all the way through and says that Hezbollah was the aggressor and that they need to return the abducted soldiers". Fouad Siniora, the Lebanese prime minister, said the resolution "shows that the whole world stood by Lebanon" and he said it was a "triumph" for Lebanese diplomacy.
In the meantime, Israeli military commanders appeared to be taking advantage of what fighting time they might have left. More than 50 helicopters flew hundreds of Israeli soldiers into south Lebanon yesterday.
Troops pushed seven miles into Lebanese territory to engage Hezbollah in the town of Ghandouriyah, and air strikes killed up to 15 people in the southern settlement of Qantara. A civilian was also killed in an air raid in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley, where Israeli jets renewed attacks on the only passable road to the Syrian border. Hezbollah said it had killed seven Israeli soldiers and destroyed 21 tanks.
After a quiet morning the militant group renewed its rocket attacks on northern Israel yesterday afternoon. That smoke mingled with the trails left by Israel's barrage of missiles, fired from a mobile rocket launcher in a field nearby.
Over Beirut, where explosions continued overnight, Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets urging residents to "shake off" Hezbollah.
Yesterday's news of the proposed deal seemed to have won grudging acceptance among the public. Adel Mahdi, 23, a student who backed Hezbollah's kidnap of the two Israeli soldiers, said: "This should be just a first step because it does not call for immediate Israeli troop withdrawals, nor does it give us our Lebanese land back or our prisoners held in Israeli jails. But it does give a ceasefire, and that is the most important thing."
The resolution nonetheless leaves key disputes unresolved. Against Lebanese wishes, it gives Israel the right to operations in self-defence until the planned UN force is deployed. Nor does it address the long-running issue of the disputed Shebaa Farms territory.
Hmm, cease-fire over before it started?
Maybe Israel has learned from 30 years of broken peace deals. Agree to the deal and then instantly ignore it.
The cease fire won't go into effect until Lebanon moves in and secures the area. As long as Hezbollah is allowed to continue their attacks on Israel, Israel will continue to defend themselves actively.
Death, taxes, and Israel getting the shaft. These things are certain.
The part of this deal that Israel got the better of is that the Hezzies cannot launch missiles into Israel as that would be construed as an offensive measure.
The Hezzies have to now fight the Israeli army.
forgot the medication again, eh?
Shimon Peres, Israel's deputy prime minister, said the country had got everything it could realistically expect from the UN. The resolution, he claimed, "vindicates Israel all the way through and says that Hezbollah was the aggressor and that they need to return the abducted soldiers".That seems reasonable. Also, the Hizzie threat to keep fighting as long as IDF is on Lebanese territory is a bit of a godsend, because Israel is pushing to the Litani, and the Hizzies have no choice but to try to resist on the ground. Good-bye.
I think the Hizzie idea is that 1559 is a dead issue. I think they're going to find out otherwise.
Israel is at the Litani.
"Speaking on Hezbollah's al-Manar television channel, he called resistance to the offensive "our natural right" but said the guerrillas would co-operate with Lebanese soldiers and UN troops due to be deployed in the border region."
Co-operate? Sounds like a whole lot of face-saving BS designed for local consumption.
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