Lebanon ceasefire looms but fighting rages on
Daily Star
Israel launched an 11th hour bid to crush Hezbollah with waves of deadly air strikes Sunday and the Shiite fighters unleashed a barrage of rockets, just hours before a UN-brokered ceasefire was due to take effect.
At least 25 Lebanese civilians and four soldiers were killed by Israeli fire as warplanes kept up their deadly bombing, police and rescue workers said, while five Israeli soldiers were also killed in action.
Israel said it would stop the offensive at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) Monday as part of a UN-agreed truce in line with a Security Council resolution calling for an end to hostilities that was passed unanimously Friday after weeks of diplomatic wrangling.
The Lebanese government, which includes two ministers from the Hezbollah movement fighting Israel, also approved the resolution on Saturday.
But it postponed indefinitely a meeting scheduled for Sunday on disarming Hezbollah because the Shiite movement stood by a refusal to give up its arms, a cabinet minister who declined to be named told AFP.
"This is the moment of truth and they do not want to give up their arms. We preferred to accept a delay of the meeting to allow the discussions to continue," the minister said.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Fuad Siniora confirmed a postponement "until further notice to allow for wider discussions", but did not elaborate.
Israel meanwhile urged the world to apply the UN resolution firmly, warning that Hezbollah must be dismantled and the Lebanese army quickly deployed in the south.
"The application of the resolution will depend on the will of the Lebanese government, but especially on the determination of the international community," Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said in Jerusalem.
"It is clear that Resolution 1701 foresees the dismantling of Hezbollah and not only the disarming" of the militant group, she said.
"We want to see the Lebanese army deployed immediately in south Lebanon." Annan's announced ceasefire raised hopes of an end to the bloodshed which has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Lebanese and some 150 Israelis.
But with Hezbollah vowing to fight until the last Israeli soldier leaves Lebanon and Israel stressing that it will respond to any attack on its troops or rocket fire, the ceasefire looked likely to be fragile.
The bloodshed went on even after the announcement of Monday's planned ceasefire.
In one of the deadliest raids, at least 10 people were killed and 20 wounded by Israeli air strikes that hit eight buildings and a mosque in Beirut's southern suburbs, emergency services said.
In Israel a man was killed by a rocket attack in the north of the country as the Shiite militia fired a record 250 rockets at the Jewish state.
The army also said that Uri Grossman, the son of prominent Israeli author David Grossman, was among the 24 Israeli soldiers killed in combat Saturday -- the highest single-day toll since the war began on July 12 -- just days after his father urged his government to reach a truce.
In what the media have called the largest ground operation since the 1973 Middle East war, Israel was sweeping through south Lebanon where Hezbollah is rooted, with some troops reaching the strategic Litani River which runs as far as 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the border.
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres sought to put a positive spin on the war's outcome despite the failure to stem Hezbollah rocket fire.
"I think that we have finished more or less the victors both militarily and politically," he told army radio, predicting that Hezbollah would end with "its tail between its legs." Trade Minister Eli Yishai issued a stark warning to Lebanon even if the ceasefire comes into force, saying: "If a single stone is thrown at Israel from whatever village, it should be turned into a pile of stones." In Tyre, Israeli warplanes bombed five petrol stations, sparking a huge fire that threatened to engulf a nearby hospital.
"The flames are lashing the building, our ill and wounded patients are threatened with smoke inhalation," hospital director Jawad Najm told AFP. "Nobody has come to help. Not the firefighters, not neighbors." Fierce clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops continued through the day southeast of Tyre, on the outskirts of the bombed-out militant stronghold of Khiam. Link
Israel launched an 11th hour bid to crush Hezbollah with waves of deadly air strikes Sunday and the Shiite fighters unleashed a barrage of rockets, just hours before a UN-brokered ceasefire was due to take effect.
At least 25 Lebanese civilians and four soldiers were killed by Israeli fire as warplanes kept up their deadly bombing, police and rescue workers said, while five Israeli soldiers were also killed in action.
Israel said it would stop the offensive at 8:00 am (0500 GMT) Monday as part of a UN-agreed truce in line with a Security Council resolution calling for an end to hostilities that was passed unanimously Friday after weeks of diplomatic wrangling.
The Lebanese government, which includes two ministers from the Hezbollah movement fighting Israel, also approved the resolution on Saturday.
But it postponed indefinitely a meeting scheduled for Sunday on disarming Hezbollah because the Shiite movement stood by a refusal to give up its arms, a cabinet minister who declined to be named told AFP.
"This is the moment of truth and they do not want to give up their arms. We preferred to accept a delay of the meeting to allow the discussions to continue," the minister said.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Fuad Siniora confirmed a postponement "until further notice to allow for wider discussions", but did not elaborate.
Israel meanwhile urged the world to apply the UN resolution firmly, warning that Hezbollah must be dismantled and the Lebanese army quickly deployed in the south.
"The application of the resolution will depend on the will of the Lebanese government, but especially on the determination of the international community," Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said in Jerusalem.
"It is clear that Resolution 1701 foresees the dismantling of Hezbollah and not only the disarming" of the militant group, she said.
"We want to see the Lebanese army deployed immediately in south Lebanon." Annan's announced ceasefire raised hopes of an end to the bloodshed which has claimed the lives of more than 1,000 Lebanese and some 150 Israelis.
But with Hezbollah vowing to fight until the last Israeli soldier leaves Lebanon and Israel stressing that it will respond to any attack on its troops or rocket fire, the ceasefire looked likely to be fragile.
The bloodshed went on even after the announcement of Monday's planned ceasefire.
In one of the deadliest raids, at least 10 people were killed and 20 wounded by Israeli air strikes that hit eight buildings and a mosque in Beirut's southern suburbs, emergency services said.
In Israel a man was killed by a rocket attack in the north of the country as the Shiite militia fired a record 250 rockets at the Jewish state.
The army also said that Uri Grossman, the son of prominent Israeli author David Grossman, was among the 24 Israeli soldiers killed in combat Saturday -- the highest single-day toll since the war began on July 12 -- just days after his father urged his government to reach a truce.
In what the media have called the largest ground operation since the 1973 Middle East war, Israel was sweeping through south Lebanon where Hezbollah is rooted, with some troops reaching the strategic Litani River which runs as far as 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the border.
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres sought to put a positive spin on the war's outcome despite the failure to stem Hezbollah rocket fire.
"I think that we have finished more or less the victors both militarily and politically," he told army radio, predicting that Hezbollah would end with "its tail between its legs." Trade Minister Eli Yishai issued a stark warning to Lebanon even if the ceasefire comes into force, saying: "If a single stone is thrown at Israel from whatever village, it should be turned into a pile of stones." In Tyre, Israeli warplanes bombed five petrol stations, sparking a huge fire that threatened to engulf a nearby hospital.
"The flames are lashing the building, our ill and wounded patients are threatened with smoke inhalation," hospital director Jawad Najm told AFP. "Nobody has come to help. Not the firefighters, not neighbors." Fierce clashes between Hezbollah and Israeli troops continued through the day southeast of Tyre, on the outskirts of the bombed-out militant stronghold of Khiam. Link
posted by exoplanet at 12:13 AM
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