ISRAEL: Israeli artillery continues pounding southern Lebanon, while diplomats meet in Jerusalem.

Record ID: 355889

  • Title: ISRAEL: Israeli artillery continues pounding southern Lebanon, while diplomats meet in Jerusalem.
  • Date: 18th July 2006
  • Summary: ISRAELI ARMY SOLDIER WALKING TOWARD GATE TO ENTER
  • Embargoed: 2nd August 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: War / Fighting
  • Reuters ID: LVA5OKOBLQBAJPEKJM89XMKFD2WN
  • Story Text: Israeli warplanes battered Lebanon on Tuesday (July 18), killing 26 people, and more Hizbollah rockets hit the Israeli city of Haifa, with no sign that diplomacy would halt the week-old conflict any time soon.
    In northern Israel, near the border with Lebanon, Israeli army artillery units pounded southern Lebanon with relentless shelling. Israel has employed forces from the air, land, and sea to attack targets throughout Lebanon.
    The first group of reserve soldiers arrived at one military base in southern Israel to bolster the nation's military efforts. Some soldiers said they were notified of their call-up only the night before.
    "It's okay. It's war now, so duty calls," said one male soldier before he entered the base.
    In Jerusalem, a United Nations team attempted to open a diplomatic front.
    The team, sent to the Middle East to seek a solution to the fighting met with Israel's foreign minister Tzipi Livni, but announced no breakthroughs in the conflict.
    "Israel and the international community also share a common goal to end the control of Hizbollah over the lives of Lebanese and Israelis, and to bring an end to its attempt to threaten the peace and security in the region," Livni said after their meeting. "Therefore, it is in our mutual interest to ensure the full implementation of Security Council resolution 1559. We discussed today ways to achieve these objectives. This must, of course, include the effective deployment of the Lebanese armed forces through the south in place of Hizbollah, and the disarming of Hizbollah as a militia."
    While the diplomats talked about how to resolve the crisis, Israeli military leaders met to discuss action.
    "From this moment Nasrallah and the Hizbollah have no means to intimidate Israel. Maybe they have the ability to surprise with some kind of weapon we don't know about. I think that even in that case, the surprises that they come up with are limited," Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz told staff at an Air Force base.
    "I think that if we embarked on an operation like this, under a very brave decision of the government of Israel, it should be completed," said Udi Adam, the head of the Israeli Army's northern command.
    Israel wants Hizbollah to free two Israeli soldiers it captured on Wednesday (July 12) and to end its cross-border attacks. Hizbollah's cross-border operation last week sparked an Israeli military offensive against Hizbollah targets and an array of civilian installations in Lebanon.
    The retaliation has killed 227 people, all but 24 of them civilians, and inflicted the heaviest damage on Lebanon since the 1982 Israeli invasion to expel Palestinian guerrillas.
    Hizbollah has responded by attacking an Israeli naval vessel off Beirut, killing four sailors, and firing hundreds of rockets across the border, killing 12 Israelis.
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