Coolassprov MC
13-08-06, 10:07
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6012355,00.html
Israeli Cabinet to Vote on Cease-Fire
Sunday August 13, 2006 9:31 AM
AP Photo JRL102
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI
Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's Cabinet met Sunday to approve a U.N. cease-fire plan despite widespread concerns among Israelis that it would be viewed as a draw with Hezbollah guerrillas who have inflicted heavy losses on Israeli troops.
The session came as some 30,000 Israeli troops fought heavy battles with Hezbollah guerrillas in a last-minute push deeper into Lebanon, and a day after 24 soldiers were killed in the highest Israeli toll of the monthlong war.
Israeli warplanes pounded targets across Lebanon on Sunday, killing at least five people.
The cease-fire was to go into effect at 8 a.m. Beirut time Monday (1 a.m. EDT). Some 15,000 Lebanese troops and an equal number of U.N. forces are to deploy in coming days in south Lebanon and create a buffer zone between the border with Israel and the Litani River.
The Lebanese government approved the deal Saturday, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah signaled grudging acceptance while warning that ``the war has not ended.''
The potential for more clashes after a cease-fire is high. Israeli troops will remain in Lebanon until Lebanese troops deploy there, and Israel's weekend push to the Litani River, some 18 miles from the border, meant scores of Hezbollah fighters were caught behind Israeli lines. Israel said it hoped Lebanese troops will start deploying quickly, within a week or two.
Israeli Trade Minister Isaac Herzog said the Cabinet would approve the cease-fire.
``We view the Security Council resolution favorably,'' Herzog told The Associated Press before the meeting Sunday. ``We plan to approve the resolution and of course enter into a cease-fire by tomorrow (Monday) morning.''
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told ministers he met with the families of two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 capture by Hezbollah provoked the war, and said he hoped they would be freed. The U.N. truce plan, however, is not linked to the soldiers' release.
Vice Premier Shimon Peres said that while Israel has to learn lessons from the war, ``in my view, we came out of this with the upper hand, both politically and military.''
The cease-fire's likely approval comes despite widespread misgivings about its terms. The deal was seen at best as a draw with Hezbollah, and some felt Israel - unable to subdue a guerrillas force - had lost.
Military experts and commentators said neither the Lebanese army nor U.N. forces could be counted on to challenge Hezbollah.
The deal buys a period of calm, at best, and sets the region up for the next war with Hezbollah, critics said. The truce will be ``a time-out until the next confrontation, and maybe not even this,'' commentator Nahum Barnea wrote in Israel's Yediot Ahronot daily.
The Cabinet session was overshadowed by rising Israeli casualties. Twenty-four soldiers were killed Saturday and at least 73 wounded.
Hezbollah appeared to be fighting as fiercely as ever. The guerrillas shot down an Israeli helicopter for the first time in the war, killing five crew members. Other troops were killed by Hezbollah anti-tank missiles. The army said it killed more than 50 Hezbollah fighters.
Israeli Cabinet to Vote on Cease-Fire
Sunday August 13, 2006 9:31 AM
AP Photo JRL102
By RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI
Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel's Cabinet met Sunday to approve a U.N. cease-fire plan despite widespread concerns among Israelis that it would be viewed as a draw with Hezbollah guerrillas who have inflicted heavy losses on Israeli troops.
The session came as some 30,000 Israeli troops fought heavy battles with Hezbollah guerrillas in a last-minute push deeper into Lebanon, and a day after 24 soldiers were killed in the highest Israeli toll of the monthlong war.
Israeli warplanes pounded targets across Lebanon on Sunday, killing at least five people.
The cease-fire was to go into effect at 8 a.m. Beirut time Monday (1 a.m. EDT). Some 15,000 Lebanese troops and an equal number of U.N. forces are to deploy in coming days in south Lebanon and create a buffer zone between the border with Israel and the Litani River.
The Lebanese government approved the deal Saturday, and Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah signaled grudging acceptance while warning that ``the war has not ended.''
The potential for more clashes after a cease-fire is high. Israeli troops will remain in Lebanon until Lebanese troops deploy there, and Israel's weekend push to the Litani River, some 18 miles from the border, meant scores of Hezbollah fighters were caught behind Israeli lines. Israel said it hoped Lebanese troops will start deploying quickly, within a week or two.
Israeli Trade Minister Isaac Herzog said the Cabinet would approve the cease-fire.
``We view the Security Council resolution favorably,'' Herzog told The Associated Press before the meeting Sunday. ``We plan to approve the resolution and of course enter into a cease-fire by tomorrow (Monday) morning.''
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told ministers he met with the families of two Israeli soldiers whose July 12 capture by Hezbollah provoked the war, and said he hoped they would be freed. The U.N. truce plan, however, is not linked to the soldiers' release.
Vice Premier Shimon Peres said that while Israel has to learn lessons from the war, ``in my view, we came out of this with the upper hand, both politically and military.''
The cease-fire's likely approval comes despite widespread misgivings about its terms. The deal was seen at best as a draw with Hezbollah, and some felt Israel - unable to subdue a guerrillas force - had lost.
Military experts and commentators said neither the Lebanese army nor U.N. forces could be counted on to challenge Hezbollah.
The deal buys a period of calm, at best, and sets the region up for the next war with Hezbollah, critics said. The truce will be ``a time-out until the next confrontation, and maybe not even this,'' commentator Nahum Barnea wrote in Israel's Yediot Ahronot daily.
The Cabinet session was overshadowed by rising Israeli casualties. Twenty-four soldiers were killed Saturday and at least 73 wounded.
Hezbollah appeared to be fighting as fiercely as ever. The guerrillas shot down an Israeli helicopter for the first time in the war, killing five crew members. Other troops were killed by Hezbollah anti-tank missiles. The army said it killed more than 50 Hezbollah fighters.