Israel thrust into southern Lebanon yesterday and pounded towns
and villages, meeting fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas
who reportedly killed three soldiers.
Three weeks after the war erupted when Hezbollah snatched two
Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid, a senior Israeli cabinet
member said the army needed up to two more weeks to finish its
offensive.
EU president Finland, echoing the growing international calls
for a ceasefire, said Israel's plans to sweep further into Lebanon
were unacceptable and would only fuel more Arab support for
Hezbollah fighters.
EU foreign ministers were set to call for an "immediate
ceasefire" at talks in Brussels, according to a draft
statement.
Expressing "utmost concern" at Lebanese and Israeli civilian
casualties, it said: "Disregard for necessary precautions to avoid
loss of civilian life constitutes a severe breach of international
humanitarian law."
The southern Lebanese village of Qana mourned the deaths of at
least 54 civilians, killed in an Israeli air strike Sunday that
fuelled international calls for a ceasefire.
"All those killed had no shrapnel or wounds on their bodies.
They all died of suffocation. The debris fell on them and their
color was blue," said Red Cross volunteer Bassam Mokdad. "If I had
been able to arrive earlier, I could've found people alive."
At least 617 people have been killed in Lebanon, although the
health minister puts the toll at 750 including bodies still buried
under rubble. Fifty-one Israelis have also been killed.
Israel wants to push Hezbollah back and stop it blasting rockets
over the border. However, an Israeli cabinet minister said there
was no way its forces could destroy all the missiles, comments
appeared aimed at lowering Israeli public expectations.
Israeli artillery shells rained down on the border area around
the Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab, where Hezbollah said it had
destroyed a tank in battles with Israeli troops.
Al-Arabiya television said three Israeli soldiers died in those
clashes, which would be the first casualties since Israel lost nine
soldiers on July 26. Hezbollah said it had inflicted 20 casualties
in house-to-house battles at Aita al-Shaab.
The Israeli army said 20 Hezbollah fighters were killed in the
last 48 hours. Hezbollah denied any serious casualties.
Israel has rejected calls for a truce as world powers differ
over the urgency of a ceasefire.
Most Arab and European governments have insisted on an immediate
end to fighting but Israel's closest ally, Washington, has said any
ceasefire must be part of a broader deal that ends the threat to
the Jewish state from Hezbollah.
Military operations to expand
The intense fighting came the same day as Israel's security
cabinet approved an expansion of its military operations in
southern Lebanon. This would entail a military ground sweep 6-7
kilometers into Lebanon, a political source said.
"I reckon the time required for the (army) to complete the job,
and by that I mean that the area in which we want the international
force to deploy is cleansed of Hezbollah, will take around 10 days
to two weeks," Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told
Army Radio.
The UN has postponed discussion on mobilizing an international
force for Lebanon until at least tomorrow, to wait for more
progress toward a political solution.
France, which has been tipped to lead the new force, said it
must be bigger than the 10,000 troops suggested by UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, be sufficiently well armed and have
precise guidelines when it comes to opening fire.
(China Daily August 2, 2006)
