The security cabinet was poised late last night to approve a widespread ground operation in Lebanon aimed at pushing Hizbullah back to the Litani River, as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told the nation the fighting would continue.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert addresses regional council heads in Karmiel.
Photo: Associated Press , AP
[For a Jerusalem Online video of events click here]
Olmert, in a speech in Tel Aviv to mayors and heads of local councils broadcast both on radio and television, said there were "still many days of fighting ahead of us. Missiles and rockets will continue to land, and hours of fear, uncertainty and yes - even pain, tears and blood - are still expected."
His comments came less than 24 hours after he initiated a 48-hour suspension of aerial activity in southern Lebanon, following Sunday's attack in Kafr Kana.
The ground thrust is expected to be the final act of the three-week war before the United Nations Security Council approves a cease-fire, expected by the end of the week. The security cabinet was still meeting close to midnight Monday.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, in remarks made before leaving Jerusalem for Washington on Monday, said she believed the path has been paved "for the United Nations Security Council to act on both an urgent and comprehensive basis this week."
Rice is working on an agreement that will be brought to the Security Council that would include a cease-fire, the creation of a multinational force that would take up positions in the south and along the Lebanese-Syrian border, and implementation of previous Security Council resolutions calling for the disarmament of Hizbullah and the extension of Lebanese sovereignty throughout the country.
Senior diplomatic officials in Jerusalem said that Israel's decision to suspend the aerial activity, and to allow for a 24-hour period of safe passage for all residents of south Lebanon who wish to leave, was made to help the Americans get the cease-fire package through the United Nations.
"The idea was that this would help calm things down," the source said, adding that the idea was Israel's initiative, and that Jerusalem was not pressed by the US to take this step.
Channel 2 said that the idea came from Vice Prime Minister Shimon Peres, currently in the US. Peres was prime minister in 1996 when the errant shell on Kafr Kana which killed more than 100 people effectively put an end to Operation Grapes of Wrath.
Foreign Ministry officials said that the decision to suspend aerial activity in south Lebanon had taken some of the edge off of criticism being leveled against Israel in capitals around the world, and that it had made things "easier" for Israeli diplomats arguing the country's case on Monday.
The European Union's foreign ministers are scheduled to hold an emergency meeting in Brussels on the situation in Lebanon on Tuesday.
Olmert, during his speech, said that "For the first time, conditions have been created to begin implementation of UN Resolution 1559, which calls for the disarming of Hizbullah, its expulsion from the border and the deployment of the Lebanese army along the border."
He termed this a "one-time opportunity to change the rules of the game in Lebanon."
Nevertheless, Olmert - apparently trying to change a perception inside Israel that the 48-hour aerial suspension meant Israel was stepping down its campaign in Lebanon - said during his speech that Israel's military actions would continue.
"The fighting continues," Olmert said. "There is no cease-fire and there will be no cease-fire. The IDF is fighting in the air, sea and land, and at this very moment, the IDF is advancing in the south of Lebanon to destroy the terrorist infrastructures there."
Answering critics claiming that the IDF had little to show for three weeks of warfare, Olmert said that the achievements had been substantial, and that "Hizbullah does not look today as it did 20 days ago - threatening, arrogant and dangerous." Olmert said that the organization suffered a major blow that would take a long time - "if ever" - to recuperate from.
"We expelled Hizbullah from its positions along the border with Israel and removed this immediate threat. Never again will we agree that Hizbullah return to these posts and continue to threaten to kidnap soldiers or directly fire at our northern communities," he said.
