Israel steps up ground offensive

BBC | August 1 2006

Israeli forces are pushing deeper into southern Lebanon after Israel's cabinet unanimously agreed to widen the ground offensive against Hezbollah.

One minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, says Israel needs 10 days to two weeks to clear Hezbollah from the border.

Fierce ground fighting continued in south Lebanon overnight and, despite a 48-hour air strike suspension, Israeli jets hit targets across the country.

The UN says it had too little notice of the suspension to take real advantage.

As international diplomatic pressure to end the fighting gathers momentum, European Union foreign ministers are holding emergency talks on the crisis in Brussels.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy has insisted it is vital that Iran - which backs Hezbollah - be included in the process to find a resolution.

He held talks with his Iranian counterpart Manouchehr Mottaki at Iran's embassy in Beirut on Monday.

Meanwhile, in a message to Syria's army, who are marking their annual army day, President Bashar Assad told his troops to increase their state of readiness to face "regional challenges".

Casualties

In the latest fighting, officials say Israeli war planes have launched several attacks across Lebanon, targeting Hezbollah rocket launchers and hideouts, as well as a road to Syria in the Bekaa Valley, which the army says was hit to prevent weapons smuggling.

Three Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in the region, Arab TV channel Al-Arabiya reported.

Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer has told Army Radio that Israel's offensive will be completed within a fortnight.

"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," he said.

Scope of incursion

The Israeli security cabinet unanimously approved the widening of its ground offensive in Lebanon, although it is not yet clear what the scope of the incursion will be.

Other sources suggest that Israel may be considering a military ground sweep six kilometres into Lebanon by the end of the week.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said the offensive will continue until the threat from Hezbollah has gone.

The 48-hour limited halt to Israeli air strikes was called to allow an investigation into the deaths of at least 54 civilians, many of them children, who died when Israeli war planes hit a house in the town of Qana.

'Word kept'

Speaking on the BBC's Today programme Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev said that the government had kept to its word by restricting operations to targets where there was an immediate threat to Israeli civilians:

"We stopped targeting places where there was a danger of infrastructure, where there was a danger of civilians getting caught up in an unnecessary way," he said.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz described the partial ceasefire as a "humanitarian gesture", with officials saying it was also implemented to allow civilians still trapped in the south to escape and much-needed aid to get in.

Aid turned back

However, the United Nations said there had been no improvement in access for aid workers to southern Lebanon since the suspension.

Agencies said they were having to ask Israel for safe passage for each aid convoy three days in advance and had not received enough notice.

Two convoys reached the Lebanese port of Tyre on Monday after a long detour through the mountains because of bomb damage to the main coast road.

Mr Regev told the BBC that Israel did not "want to see innocent civilians caught up in the combat" and was working closely with the UN to ease the situation.

"We're co-ordinating with humanitarian convoys that's allowing medicine and foodstuffs in, allowing innocents who want to leave, out," he said.

"We have no interest in seeing suffering on the Lebanese side. Ultimately we hope for a better relationship with Lebanon."

After nearly three weeks of fighting, about 750 people - mainly civilians - have been killed by Israeli action, according to Lebanon's health minister.

A total of 51 Israelis, including at least 18 civilians, have been killed by Hezbollah - which has been fighting Israeli incursions and sending rockets into northern Israel.

In a separate development, Israeli troops have re-entered southern Gaza as part of an offensive triggered by the capture of an Israeli soldier by militants from the Gaza Strip five weeks ago.

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