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Prime Minister says fighting won't end until rocket threat gone

Sneh: Expanded IDF ground operation to last for weeks

By Ze'ev Schiff, Amos Harel and Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Agencies

Israel's offensive in Lebanon is likely to last for weeks, and may include holding territory up to the Litani River, senior Labor MK and former deputy defense minister Ephraim Sneh indicated Tuesday, hours after the security cabinet voted to expand the ground campaign.

Sneh, speaking to Israel Radio, was asked how long Israel will hold the territory "apparently up to the Litani," a reference to the river some 30 km (18 miles) north of the Israel-Lebanon border, a main demarcation line during the 18-year occupation of Lebanon which ended in an Israeli withdrawal in 2000.

"We can achieve the results in several weeks," Sneh said. "This war must not end in a tie The goals of this war cannot be achieved without more using more force for a longer time."

Anything less, and Hezbollah will return and fire rockets at Israel, Sneh said. "The objective is not conquering Lebanon. The objective is creating a situation in which an international force or the Lebanese army can come and hold the area."

Under the plan approved in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday - and similar to last week's operation carried out in Bint Jbail - IDF forces will mount raids on villages that have served as Hezbollah bases. The plan was presented to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during meetings held Saturday with Defense Minister Amir Peretz and defense establishment heads.

The cabinet voted nearly unanimously in favor of the plan, with none opposed and one abstention.

Political sources in Jerusalem said on Monday that the UN Security Council would call for a cease-fire on Friday that would take effect starting Saturday. The fighting, however, may continue for a few more days, sources estimated.

Olmert reiterated on Monday that Israel would continue its offensive until the arrival of an international stabilization force in Lebanon. "Israel is continuing to fight," Olmert told a mayors conference in Tel Aviv. "There is no cease-fire, and there will not be a cease-fire in the upcoming days."

Meanwhile, the IDF markedly intensified its ground offensive in southern Lebanon on Monday. Despite the significant reduction in the number of aerial strikes, in keeping with the agreement reached with the U.S. administration Sunday night, the IDF was instructed to deploy larger forces in the field.

Military sources said Monday night that the IDF now would make a concerted effort to achieve ground success through operations that the army has avoided until now.

IDF bulldozers will raze the remaining Hezbollah outposts along the border; at the same time, the army will beef up its presence in the field, and carry out searches and raids in other villages in an effort to locate both weapons and Hezbollah fighters.

Five brigade-level commands - more than twice the number of forces operating in the area thus far - will operate in southern Lebanon.

The IDF also suggested other far-reaching moves to the cabinet last night, including the deployment of reserve forces. Military officials also believe the IDF has a few days to complete ground operations before a cease-fire is declared.

Senior officers assessed on Monday that the damage sustained by Hezbollah is far greater than originally believed. They said many of the organization's senior commanders have been killed or wounded.

According to Israeli estimates, Hezbollah still has about 9,000 Katyusha rockets.

The prime minister said that Israel would no longer accept the transfer of weapons from Syria to Hezbollah, and would not allow the organization to restore its capabilities after the fighting is over.

"The organization's leadership is in hiding; they are afraid for their lives, and we will continue to pursue them wherever they are and at all times," the prime minister said.

Olmert: There will be no cease-fire in coming days
Olmert said Monday evening that there would be no cease-fire in the coming days, despite a 48-hour halt in Israel Air Force activity in Lebanon.

He said the offensive in southern Lebanon would end when the rockets fired by Hezbollah cease and the two Israel Defense Forces soldiers abducted on July 12 are returned.

"We will stop the war when the [rocket] threat is removed..., our captive soldiers return home in peace, and you are able to live in safety and security," Olmert said, addressing the mayors of northern towns.

He also warned that Israel still faced "no small number of days of fighting."

"We should be ready for pain, tears and blood," he said. "Missiles and rockets will still land in Israel in the coming days."

Israel had had no choice but to begin its attacks on Hezbollah after the guerrillas carried out their cross-border attack, in which eight other soldiers were killed, he said.

"We could not let the terror organization on our border get stronger, let them get more missiles," he said. "If we had held off, the day would have arrived soon when they would have caused unprecedented damage."

He said that even as he spoke, Israeli forces continued fighting in the air, from the sea and on the ground in Lebanon. "We are determined to succeed in this struggle," he said. "We will not give up on our goal to live a life free of terror."

Olmert also lauded the operation's successes: "The achievements are very significant," he said. "Hezbollah of today does not look like the Hezbollah of 20 days ago - threatening, arrogant and dangerous. They have taken a hard hit, and it will take them a long time to recover from it - if at all," he said.

"We have pushed Hezbollah back from its positions along the border with Israel, and we have eliminated this immediate threat," the prime minister said. "We will no longer consent to Hezbollah's returning to these positions and continuing to threaten to abduct soldiers and fire on northern communities.

"This is a unique opportunity to change the rules in Lebanon," he said.

The prime minister brushed off international criticism about the fighting in Lebanon, saying that no other country would accept similar attacks against it.

Hezbollah has fired more than 1,600 rockets into northern Israel since the conflict erupted. At least 300,000 of the one million residents of the north have been driven from their homes. Others have been holed up in bomb shelters.

The prime minister expressed regret for the attack in the southern Lebanon village of Qana on Sunday, which killed 56 people, among them 37 children.

"I am sorry from bottom of heart for all deaths of children or women in Qana," Olmert said. "We did not search them out... they were not our enemies and we did not look for them."

Addressing the people of Lebanon, he told them that they were not Israel's enemy, but rather Hezbollah leader Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah - whom he accused of carrying out the policies of Syria and Iran - was.

"We are not fighting against the Lebanese people. We are not fighting against its government. We are fighting terrorism and we will not stop the fight against them until we push them away from our borders," he said