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Olmert: Offensive to Continue 'Til Release
Israeli officials said Tuesday their offensive in Lebanon could last several more weeks and involve large numbers of ground forces, casting doubt on diplomatic efforts to broker a cease-fire.Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told a visiting U.N. delegation that "Israel will continue to combat Hezbollah and will continue to strike targets of the group" until captured Israeli soldiers are released and Israeli citizens are safe from attacks. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said diplomatic efforts were under way, but a cease-fire would be impossible unless the captured soldiers are returned unharmed and Lebanese troops are deployed along the countries' border, with a guarantee that the Hezbollah militia would be disarmed. Maj. Gen. Udi Adam, the head of the Israeli army's northern command, said the offensive against Hezbollah, which has mostly been limited to Israel's air force and navy, would continue. "I think that we should assume that it will take a few more weeks," he told Israel's Army Radio. The army's deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinski, told Israel Radio that Israel has not ruled out deploying "massive ground forces into Lebanon." "We certainly won't reach months and I hope it also won't be many more weeks, but we still need time to complete the operation's very clear objectives," Kaplinsky said. Public Security Minister Avi Dichter said Israel may consider a prisoner swap with Lebanon to win the release of two soldiers captured by Hezbollah, but only after its military operation is complete. "If one of the ways to bring home the soldiers will be negotiations on the possibility of releasing Lebanese prisoners, I think the day will come when we will also have to consider this," Dichter told Army Radio. Israeli strikes in Lebanon raised the death toll in that country to at least 226. Israelis strongly support the military operation against Hezbollah, according a to poll in the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot. It said 86 percent of Israelis believe the operation is justified, 81 percent want it to continue and 58 percent say it should last until Hezbollah is destroyed. The poll had a margin of error of 4.2 percentage points. Nevertheless, Livni said, "We are beginning a diplomatic process alongside the military operation that will continue." "The diplomatic process is not meant to shorten the window of time of the army's operation, but rather is meant to be an extension of it and to prevent a need for future military operations," she told reporters. Clarifying the JPost article from this morning. Thank goodness. Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-07-18 |
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