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Israeli PM Olmert said that Israel would not rush into a cease-fire to end 19 days of fighting in southern Lebanon until it achieves its goals there. (AP file)
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| By Israel Insider staff and partners July 30, 2006 |
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Israel's ambassador to the United States said Sunday that Israel did not rule out withdrawing from the disputed Chebaa Farms territory but added that such a pullout would not be part of any deal to end the 19 days of fighting with the Hezbollah guerrillas in south Lebanon.
Aides to Ehud Olmert, who met late Saturday with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said the Israeli prime minister was not opposed to a pullout from the disputed border area -- a key Lebanese demand -- as a gesture to strengthen Lebanon's government.
Olmert said Sunday that Israel would not rush into a cease-fire to end 19 days of fighting in southern Lebanon until it achieves its goals there.
"I think it needs to be clear that Israel is not in a hurry to have a cease-fire before we reach a situation in which we can say that we achieved the central goals that we set down for ourselves," Olmert said before Israel's weekly Cabinet meeting. "This requires a ripening of the diplomatic process and a specific agreement regarding the formation of the force that will operate from the areas from which Israel was threatened in this period."
Israeli officials have said they want to crush the Hezbollah guerrilla group that controls southern Lebanon or at least push it away from the border, which then would be patrolled by a sizable international peacekeeping force.
Israel kept control of Chebaa Farms when it withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000 after an 18-year occupation. The United Nations certified that Israel had withdrawn completely and ruled that Chebaa farms, which Israel captured in the 1967 Mideast War, was actually part of Syria. Hezbollah, a Shiite group that controls southern Lebanon, has pointed to Israel's continuing presence in the disputed territory to justify its continued attacks on Israel.
Israeli opponents of a pullout worry it will be perceived as a victory for Hezbollah in the current fighting and encourage the guerrilla group, and other enemies of Israel, to step up attacks on the Jewish state.
The latest round of violence began July 12 when Hezbollah fighters crossed the border into Israel and attacked an army patrol, killing three soldiers and capturing two others. Israel responded swiftly with a wide-scale air and artillery bombardment of southern Lebanon and later sent ground forces into border villages, where they fought fierce battles with the guerrillas.
At least 458 Lebanese have been killed in the fighting, according to Lebanese officials. Thirty-three Israeli soldiers have died, and Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel killed 19 civilians, the Israeli army said.
The violence continued Sunday with heavy fighting erupting along the border, and Israeli airstrikes in the southern town of Qana killing more than 50 people, Lebanese security officials said.
Hezbollah fired at least 47 rockets into northern Israel on Sunday, lightly injuring 10 civilians.
Security officials said Sunday they believe they have a week before diplomacy forces an end to the fighting, so they are speeding up their strikes on Hezbollah to weaken the group as much as possible before that.
Israel has demanded Hezbollah be disarmed, or at least pushed back from the border area, before any cease-fire can be implemented. Israel has also called for the Lebanese army to deploy in southern Lebanon or, failing that, the deployment of an international force in the region.
A draft U.N. resolution aimed at ending the conflict called for an immediate cease-fire and the creation of an international force for south Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah from attacking Israel.
Rice, on her second trip to the region since the violence began, presented a cease-fire package to Olmert that included deploying more than 10,000 troops along the border area, according to senior Israeli officials. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.
Her plan also called for Hezbollah to release the two captured Israel soldiers and she called for Israel to withdraw from Chebaa farms as a gesture to the Lebanese government, the Israeli officials said. Rice was to meet with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Amir Peretz on Sunday.
The Israeli government did not rule out such a withdrawal, but would only follow through with it if the soldiers were returned and Hezbollah was disarmed, the officials said.
Israel's ambassador to the United States, Danny Ayalon, said Sunday that Chebaa Farms would not be included in any cease-fire deal.
"It's not a secret that Lebanon says, Prime Minister (Fuad) Saniora says that the transfer of Chebaa Farms to Lebanon would really strengthen it politically. There are Americans who also believe this. So we have to see with this give and take," he told Israel's Army Radio. "This is of course not something that will prevent or speed up a cease-fire."
Former Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, a leader of the hawkish Likud Party, said a withdrawal from Chebaa Farms would backfire on Israel.
"In my opinion it would be a catastrophe if Israel would agree to give Chebaa Farms to Lebanon. This would strengthen the line that is gaining popularity in the Arab world that only through violence is it possible to get anything from Israel," he told Israel Radio.
The AP contributed to this report.
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