"We have no desire to continue in military operations to prevent the international community from acting. The opposite is true," she said.
Defense Minister Amir Peretz at the weekly cabinet meeting.
Photo: AP
Yishai said that the IDF told the cabinet it would take some 30 days to carry out the operation, but that he believed even more time would be needed.
Justice Minister Haim Ramon said after the meeting that the central military goal now was to significantly reduce Katyusha rocket fire on Israel, and change the status quo from what it was before July 12.
Ramon said that, as traumatic as the War in Lebanon in 1982 was, it should not keep Israel from pursuing its current aims. That war had been against the PLO, he said, while the current one was against Teheran, and would have great significance on the Palestinians and on moderate Arab countries in the region.
One of the suggestions that the cabinet rejected was a proposal to target Lebanese infrastructure. It was also reportedly agreed that the IDF would not enter Tyre, the largest city south of the Litani. Elite commando units have operated there occasionally since the war began.
AP contributed to this report.
