Israeli offensive will take 'lot longer' than 30 days

chron.com

Israel's Security Cabinet today approved a wider ground offensive in south Lebanon that was expected to take 30 days as part of a new push to badly damage Hezbollah, a Cabinet minister said.

The decision came as fierce fighting was reported overnight with Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon, and Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera reported that 11 Israeli soldiers had been killed.

The Security Cabinet authorized troops to push to the Litani River some 18 miles from the Israel-Lebanon border. Currently, 10,000 soldiers are fighting Hezbollah in a four-mile stretch from the frontier.

The proposed operation was expected to take 30 days, Cabinet minister Eli Yishai said. However, an internationally backed cease-fire was expected to be imposed well before then.

"The assessment is it will last 30 days. I think it is wrong to make this assessment. I think it will take a lot longer," he said.

The decision, approved by nine ministers with three abstaining, gave authorization to Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to order the wider offensive and to decide its timing. However, it did not obligate them to act.

Such a move is risky. Israel would set itself up for new criticism that it is sabotaging diplomatic efforts, particularly after Lebanon offered to deploy its own troops in the border area. Link