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Israel claims 'green light' given for war
Israel insists it has been given the green light from the world to press on with its deadly assault on Lebanon and called up more troops, after suffering its biggest single-day military loss in the conflict. But Israel says it will limit its ground offensives after the killing of nine troops, including an Australian, in pitched battles with Hezbollah guerrillas yesterday.

"Yesterday in Rome we in effect obtained the authorisation to continue our operations until Hezbollah is no longer present in southern Lebanon," Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon told Army Radio. He was referring to a 15-nation conference in the Italian capital on Wednesday.

World powers remain at odds over how to end the conflict, despite the mounting death toll and warnings that Lebanon is facing a humanitarian catastrophe. Much of Lebanon's infrastructure is in ruins, hundreds of thousands have fled their homes and there are increasing shortages of food and medicines.

The US, Israel's closest ally, infuriated Arab opinion by blocking calls at the Rome meeting for an immediate cease-fire and instead calling for efforts to reach a "sustainable" truce. US President George W Bush says he is "troubled" by the destruction Israeli strikes have left in Lebanon but rejects any "fake peace" that does not tackle the conflict's root causes.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit say Arab countries are disappointed that the Rome conference has "failed to meet Arab demands" for an immediate truce.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insists there has been agreement in Rome on the need for a multinational UN-mandated force for Lebanon and says the world body plans to hold a meeting this week or next.

European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana said yesterday the bloc would be willing to contribute peacekeeping forces to Lebanon if a UN resolution allowed it.

A diplomatic source in Paris says France is to propose to its UN Security Council partners a resolution that would see the creation of a buffer zone on both sides of the border as part of a strategy to end the conflict.
That won't fly -- Israel will never allow 'peacekeepers' on their side of the border.
Israel is already planning a buffer zone in Lebanon to protect its border, while insisting there is no question of another occupation - memories of the quagmire that resulted from its 1982 invasion are still raw.

The US also prevented adoption of a UN Security Council draft resolution critical of Israel after its warplanes killed four UN observers in a raid in a south Lebanon town that UN chief Kofi Annan said was "apparently deliberate".

Mr Ramon says Israel no longer regards the border town of Bint Jbeil, a Hezbollah military stronghold where the nine soldiers were killed, as a civilian area after ordering people to leave. "Everyone who is still in south Lebanon is linked to Hezbollah, we have called on all who are there to leave," he said.
Posted by: Oztralian 2006-07-28
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=161113