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Israel dilutes demand for ending hostilities

Atul Aneja

Inability to make gains on battlefield

DUBAI: Unable to make significant gains on the battlefield, Israel on Friday appeared ready to dilute some of its key demands for bringing the month-long fighting with Hizbollah to a halt.

Reports in the Israeli media say the Government of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert might be ready to drop its insistence on disarming Hizbollah as a precondition for the cessation of hostilities.

According to Israeli daily Haaretz, the Security Council has been considering a draft that calls for strengthening the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) along with the deployment of Lebanese troops. However, the new force would not have the mandate to disarm Hizbollah. A contingent of French troops was likely to become part of the UNIFIL. Combined with the Lebanese troops, it was expected to deploy across the Israel-Lebanon border till the Litani river, 35 km inside.

Progressive withdrawal

The positioning of the new force was expected to coincide with a "progressive Israeli withdrawal" and the removal of Hizbollah from the area. Lebanon had earlier proposed that it was ready to send 15,000 of its troops to the border, as part of deal on the cessation of hostilities.

The Hizbollah has said it is ready for the deployment of any force so long it was not stationed under the provisions of Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter, which would empower it to disarm the group.

Diplomatic sources said Hizbollah was, however, likely to seek further clarification on the reinforced UNIFIL, as well as its mandate. The new draft envisages that after a gap of 30 days, a more comprehensive resolution, which would address the issues such as terms of a durable ceasefire as well as the release of the captive Israeli soldiers and Lebanese prisoners, would be required. It would also deal with the question of disarming of Hizbollah.

As diplomacy to halt fighting gathered momentum, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs David Welch was in Beirut for the second time in 48 hours for talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Saniora. Simultaneously, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was heading for the U.N. headquarters in New York, as was her French counterpart Philippe Douste-Blazy.

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