Israelis say they’re willing to give diplomacy a last chance
JERUSALEM, Israel (AFP) – Israel said yesterday it was giving diplomacy a last chance to bring the conflict in Lebanon to an end before launching an expanded ground offensive to battle Hezbollah deep inside the country.
At a six-hour meeting Wednesday, the security cabinet approved plans to push deeper into Lebanon and create a buffer zone in order to break the back of the Shiite militant group and prevent rocket attacks.
But the new phase of Israel’s month-old offensive remained on hold, although troops seized one border town in southern Lebanon and moved on another yesterday.
“The cabinet gave Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defence Minister Amir Peretz the authority to decide when to start this operation,” government spokesman Avi Pazner said. “For the time being, it has not begun.”
Thousands of Israeli troops were poised to thrust into Lebanon, where they are expected to advance on the strategic Litani river as much as 30 kilometres (20 miles) north of the border.
Officials said Israel was putting the expanded operation on hold to allow the United Nations to reach a diplomatic solution to the conflict, during which Israeli raids have killed more than 1,000 civilians in Lebanon. More than 100 Israelis have also died, in Lebanon fighting Hezbollah militiamen, and in northern Israel from Hezbollah rocket attacks.
Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said the timing of the broader offensive “depends to a great extent on what is happening now in New York”, where the UN Security Council is battling to agree on a ceasefire resolution.
Justice Minister Haim Ramon said: “We must exhaust all diplomatic options. Important efforts for a solution are being deployed in New York.
“It’s a matter of a few hours, maybe 24 hours, let’s be patient,” he told public radio.
Transport Minister Yitzhak Herzog told army radio: “There is a political process under way and our sense of responsibility tells us to give it a bit more time.”
Paris and Washington have been spearheading diplomatic efforts to solve the crisis and were trying yesterday to iron out differences over a UN resolution.
France has backed Lebanese demands for the text to require Israel to withdraw its troops immediately after a ceasefire while the US, the main ally of the Jewish state, has supported Israel’s insistence that a pull-out would come only after deployment of an international buffer force.
