Posted on 08/11/2006 3:58:31 PM PDT by garbageseeker
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert endorsed an emerging Mideast cease-fire deal late Friday, after a day of dramatic day brinksmanship including a threat to expand the ground war in Lebanon.
The agreement calls for the deployment of 30,000 Lebanese and U.N. troops along the Israel-Lebanon border. It falls short of some of Israel's demands, including a strong mandate for the U.N. forces to take on Hezbollah guerrillas.
However, the draft is the best chance yet for peace after more than four weeks of war that has killed more than 800 people, destroyed Lebanon's infrastructure and inflamed tensions across the Middle East.
Neither the Lebanese government nor Hezbollah has said publicly whether they would sign on to the deal, but it was widely assumed that they did not object to it. Plans to take the resolution to a vote were announced in New York shortly after U.S. Mideast envoy, Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, met for a second time Friday with Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora.
Israeli officials said Israel would not halt fighting until Israel's Cabinet has approved the cease-fire deal in its weekly meeting Sunday. It was not immediately clear whether the military would expand its ground offensive in the time remaining, or would only hold existing positions.
Only six hours passed from an initial decision by Olmert to broaden the ground offensive to his acceptance of the cease-fire deal. The zigzag reflected Israel's dilemma after a month of inconclusive fighting.
Israel has been unable to defeat Hezbollah and was concerned about growing Israeli casualties, as well as international condemnation, if the war continued. However, Olmert also feared that accepting a deal that does not rein in the guerrillas could lead to another war down the road and hurt him politically.
Olmert's initial order to send troops deeper into Hezbollah territory came even as U.N. Security Council negotiations reached the final stretch in New York.
Several hours later, France and the United States reached agreement on a final draft, to be put to a vote later Friday. The draft would authorize the deployment of 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers in south Lebanon, along with 15,000 Lebanese troops, into the region "as Israel withdraws."
The Security Council, repeatedly accused of taking too long to come up with a response to fighting, would leave out several key demands from both Israel and Lebanon in efforts to come up with a workable arrangement.
"You never get a deal like this with everybody getting everything that they want," Britain's Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said. "The question is, has everybody got enough for this to stick and for it to be enforceable? Nobody wants to go back to where we were before this last episode started."
Despite Lebanese objections, Israel will be allowed to continue defensive operations, and a dispute over the Chebaa Farms area along the Syria-Lebanon-Israel border will be left for later. Israel won't get its wish for an entirely new multinational force separate from the U.N. peacekeepers that have been stationed in south Lebanon since 1978.
There is also no call for the release of Lebanese prisoners held by Israel or a demand for the immediate withdrawal of Israeli troops. Although the draft resolution emphasizes the need for the "unconditional release" of the two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 capture by Hezbollah sparked the conflict, that call is not included in the list of steps required for a lasting cease-fire.
The ongoing fighting has killed more than 800 people — including at least 732 Lebanese and 122 Israelis.
After nightfall, there were some signs of troop movement on the Israel-Lebanon border. Battle-ready soldiers carrying heavy backpacks marched near the border as tanks assembled nearby. In south Lebanon, there were no reports of increased troop activity. Israeli officials gave conflicting assessments on whether a wider campaign was under way.
More than 10,000 Israeli troops are already fighting Hezbollah guerrillas in south Lebanon. In the new phase, Israeli forces would push toward Lebanon's Litani River, some 18 miles from the Israel-Lebanon border, attempting to capture more than twice as much territory as they hold now.
Olmert has faced growing criticism at home for the army's inability to halt the rocket barrages; Hezbollah has fired more than 3,500 rockets in the monthlong war. Polls also indicated that his initially approval rating, high at the start of the war, was slipping.
Commentators have suggested Olmert's political career was at stake, and that he might even be forced to step down. Many Israelis believe defeating Hezbollah is essential for their country's long-term security.
In Lebanon, Israeli airstrikes pounded south Beirut and border crossings to Syria, killing at least 15 people as ground fighting picked up intensity in the south of the country.
In the Bekaa Valley, an Israeli drone fired missiles into a convoy of refugees fleeing attacks in the southern town of Marjayoun, killing at least six people and wounding 16 others, an Associated Press photographer said.
The Israeli military said it had no knowledge of the incident. The army noted that it had imposed a travel ban on south Lebanon, and had received no request to coordinate a convoy in that area.
Throughout the day, civilians had been fleeing fighting in the Christian town of Marjayoun in long convoys after Israeli forces entered earlier this week.
Lutfallah Daher, the photographer, was with the convoy when it was hit near the town of Chtaura, about 30 miles north of the Litani River. Israel had warned it would attack any vehicle on roads south of the Litani, assuming it was carrying Hezbollah weapons or fighters.
Daher said the convoy consisted of more than 600 civilian vehicles and others carrying a detachment of 350 Lebanese soldiers and police when it left the area around Marjayoun. He said very few of the vehicles had left the convoy when it was hit.
I'm sure Hezbollah appreciates the chance to catch it's breath and re-arm.
Thank you UN Security Council for this UNANIMOUS vote of prolonging the inevitable.
I don't agree any more. I think Olmert probably rejects the intelligence opinion. I don't think they have any intention of going after Iran.
She smiles like the jackals at Munich in 1938.
Just like when they humiliated Carter for 444 days and then released the hostages the same day Reagan was inaugurated.
She is an adult professional this is diplomacy. Be real.
Folk the UN and their "cessation of hostilities." This is total bravo sierra. Keep fighting Israel!!!!!!!! You know Hezb'allah will.
I'm a big Patton fan, too. He was a man who knew how to wage war. Shep Smith was saying that he was hearing so many complaints from IDF members who were hurried into war just to be left sitting twiddling their thumbs. No way to treat a soldier fighting for their country's survival.
I strongly disagree. Their instructions would be totally different if this crushing blow on Hisbollah was delivered.
Israel conducted this war unacceptably badly – poor strategy, first of all.
When they amassed their armory on the Lebanese border, I was expecting the real first and decisive air strikes to be delivered onto the Hez supplying and communications lines along the Syrian border, followed by something like distractive deployment of some airborne troops there. The carnage there would lure the Hez fighters from their holes in the South Lebanon, and then it would be a shooting range for the IDF…
I’m afraid that Bolton and Rice now just help Israel to get out of the mess with some dignity.
Who said it was Bush's fault. Can't you read. What I said is that the current resolution was built by France and the US. It is the resolution that is the problem. Of course, Israel under the leadership of the hard left did not conduct the war as they should. That is easy to figure out. It is our part of the current resolution is a shame. The US should have stayed out of the resolution making so the Israel people would still have the feeling we are with them. Instead we supported their defeat in the war which was just and Israel should have won.
Hezbollah won't quit shooting so the "cease fire" will be moot.
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Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
Never underestimate hezbollah's propensity to overreach, and snatch defeat from the UN jaws of victory.
at this point one can only......wait.
Thanks for your support. When fight a war, you fight to win and smash the enemy to bits. This may include the bombing civilian areas. In WWII, the United States and Britian never apologized for bombing civilian targets.It drove me nuts when Israel apologized for bombing civilian positions. I thank you and the people out there for agreeing with my positions.
That's exactly the point! Israel is negotiating with Lebanon not Hezbollah ... Bolton has made it clear that we will only deal with Lebanon not Hezbollah.
So if Lebanon turns this down because of Hezbollah it will become apparent.
So for those upset that Israel is willing to accept this settlement, it is a mute point.
Your right. Hezbollah will never abide by the cease fire.
Tony Snow just said on Fox that their release will be addressed in a SECOND resolution. WTF????
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