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| By Associated Press July 17, 2006 |
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Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday that the fighting in Lebanon would not end until two Israeli soldiers were freed, rocket attacks stopped, the Lebanese army deployed along the border and Hezbollah was removed from the region.
However, other Israeli officials said privately that Israel was softening its cease-fire demands, and United Nations mediators arrived Monday night to try to broker a truce.
Delivering his first major address to the Israeli public after six-days of fierce fighting, Olmert said Israel would have no mercy on militants who attacked its cities with rockets.
"We shall seek out every installation, hit every terrorist helping to attack Israeli citizens, destroy all the terrorist infrastructure, in every place. We shall continue this until Hezbollah does the basic and fair things required of it by every civilized person," he said. "Israel will not agree to live in the shadow of the threat of missiles or rockets against its residents."
Israeli officials have said publicly that Israel would not stop fighting until Hezbollah, a Shiite militia that controls much of south Lebanon, is dismantled. But privately, they have said that they would agree to a cease-fire if Hezbollah released the soldiers and withdrew from the border area.
Olmert's chief spokesman, Asaf Shariv, said earlier Monday that Israel was seeking the soldiers' release and a pullback by Hezbollah.
"Bring them (the soldiers) back and put the Hezbollah outside of the south of Lebanon and we are done, we are not shooting one bomb, one bullet," he said.
Olmert reiterated his government's more stringent demands in his speech.
"We shall struggle for the implementation of the conditions laid down by the international community ... the return of the hostages Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, a total cease-fire, the deployment of the Lebanese army in all of south Lebanon and the removal of Hezbollah from the region, with the implementation of United Nations resolution 1559," he said. That resolution calls for the "disbanding and disarmament" of all militias in Lebanon.
Israeli officials said earlier Monday that Olmert had conveyed Israel's position to Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, who is attempting to broker the cease-fire deal.
As he spoke, a U.N. delegation also trying to mediate an end to the fighting arrived in Israel from Beirut.
"We hope that we will be able to see our way toward ... a de-escalation of the crisis," said Vijay Nambiar, head of the delegation. He said he would pass on information gathered in the Lebanese capital with Israeli officials, but declined to elaborate.
The fighting began when Hezbollah kidnapped the soldiers in a cross-border raid. Since then, Israel has pounded Lebanon with airstrikes and Hezbollah has fired barrages of rockets and missiles into Israeli towns and cities. Over the past six days, 24 Israelis, half of them civilians, and nearly 200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have died in the fighting.
"We are not looking for war or direct conflict, but if necessary we will not be frightened by it," Olmert said.
He also praised the Israeli people for being strong and united in the face of the rocket bombardment, which has sent about half a million Israelis into bomb shelters. He said a Jewish prayer for the soldiers and said he had pictures of the three captured soldiers -- the two in Lebanon and another held by militants in Gaza -- in his office.
"We shall do everything with all our might to bring them home," he said, but added that Israel could not make a deal that would lead to further kidnappings.
Olmert spoke at length about many of those killed and said that Israel was fighting for them.
"When missiles are launched at our residents and our towns, our answer will be war waged at full strength, with all determination, courage and sacrifice," he said.
Olmert also accused Hamas militants in Gaza, where Israel has been waging an offensive for three weeks, to free a soldier captured earlier, and Hezbollah of being agents of Iran and Syria.
The fighting has unified Israel society and silenced its normally constant political fighting.
Speaking after Olmert, opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu said he supported Israel's offensive.
"We need to turn Hezbollah and (Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan) Nasrallah into a symbol, not a symbol of what our enemies do to us, but a symbol of what we do to our enemies who come to attack us," he said. "From now on, the terrorists and enemies of Israel will all know, the nation is united like a fist. You don't mess with us, you don't fire rockets at us."
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