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Israel eyes Monday truce as Lebanon ground offensive widens
By Jean-Luc Renaudie
AFP
JERUSALEM
Petroleumworld.com 08 12 06
Israeli officials said on Saturday they expected the new widened ground assault against Lebanon's Hezbollah militia to wind down on Monday, but uncertainty remained on how soon a ceasefire could take hold.
The Israeli general in charge of the northern command said he hoped the estimated 30,000 troops involved in the expanded offensive launched overnight will have secured control of most of south Lebanon by Monday.
"The goals we will achieve by Monday, I hope, are reaching a large part of the launching areas and we will take over part of the area we planned, if not most of it," he told reporters in the north of the country.
"I think we will be in a much better situation (on Monday) than we are today," he said. "Assuming that the ceasefire will take effect, we will stop the moment we are told. If it doesn't, we could continue."
Military sources said the Israeli goal of reaching the Litani river is almost achieved in some areas but the river, in some parts of southern Lebanon, runs as far as 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the border.
A month after fighting started between Israeli troops and the Lebanese guerrillas, Israel launched a huge ground offensive which commentators said was aimed at breaking the back of Hezbollah before a ceasefire is enforced.
After days of painstaking diplomatic wrangling, diplomats at the United Nations reached a ceasefire agreement which provides for a robust international force to take over from Israeli forces in south Lebanon.
But Israeli leaders argued that the ceasefire had not yet been officially declared and that the new push deep inside Hezbollah-controlled territory was not inconsistent with their acceptance of the resolution.
Military and political officials said that troops would seek to reach the Litani as soon as possible and then move southwards to the border, combing the area for Hezbollah militiamen on the way.
However, with both sides insisting they would respond to direct threats on each other's forces, senior officers admitted that sporadic clashes in what they described as "cleaning up" operations could last weeks.
"The fighting in Lebanon will continue until the moment a ceasefire is declared. We will remain on the ground until we reach the conclusion that the force which replaces Israeli troops really intends to apply the resolution," Defence Minister Amir Peretz said on television.
"We will not agree for anyone to harm our soldiers who are on the ground... If someone dares use force against Israeli troops, we will consider this as a violation of the ceasefire agreement and we will give the army all the ability to defend itself," he explained.
Top UN envoy Alvaro de Soto told AFP he expected a truce to be immediate after both the Israeli and Lebanese governments accept the UN resolution.
"I think that what we should see in the next 24 or 48 hours at most is a reduction of violence. This would be normal," he said, adding that implied a cessation of hostilities but not necessarily a full Israeli pullout.
All sides, including Hezbollah, have indicated they are ready to accept the ceasefire deal.
Lebanon's cabinet, which includes Hezbollah representatives, unanimously approved the resolution on Saturday, Finance Minister Jihad Azour told AFP.
"The government approved unanimously the UN resolution, despite some reservations," he said. "Another cabinet meeting will be held tomorrow (Sunday) to discuss details of the implementation of the resolution."
Earlier Israeli troops in tanks and armoured carriers backed by fighters jets pushed deep into south Lebanon and also airlifted in hundreds of troops in what the Israeli media said was the largest airlift operation in 30 years.
The fresh offensive came as Israeli public opinion appeared increasingly sceptical about its army's chances of unequivocally defeating Hezbollah, a well-trained militia supported by Iran and Syria.
The fierce fighting raging in south Lebanon claimed the lives of at least seven more Israeli soldiers Saturday, bringing to 93 the total number of troops to have died in the month-old war.
The Israeli army also said that 11 soldiers were seriously wounded but that at least 40 Hezbollah fighters had also been killed.
Hezbollah continued to fire rockets on northern Israel Saturday, lightly wounding eight civilians. The intensity of fire however dropped by half from previous days, with 68 rockets, police said.
Israel launched its massive land, sea and air military operation in south Lebanon on July 12 following border attacks by Hezbollah in which eight soldiers were killed and two captured.
The fate of the pair has remained unknown since the Lebanese government said several days ago that they were in good health.
AFP 12 1906 GMT 08 06
Copyright ©2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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