ISRAEL: Despite U.N. draft resolution, Israel continues offensive into 26th day

Record ID: 396554

  • Title: ISRAEL: Despite U.N. draft resolution, Israel continues offensive into 26th day
  • Date: 6th August 2006
  • Summary: (W2) JERUSALEM (AUGUST 6, 2006) (REUTERS) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER EHUD OLMERT WALKING INTO CABINET MEETING ISRAELI DEPUTY PREMIER SHIMON PERES ARRIVING AT MEETING (SOUNDBITE) (English) ISRAELI DEPUTY PREMIER SHIMON PERES COMMENTING ON INTERNATIONAL EFFORTS TO FORCE A CEASEFIRE BETWEEN ISRAEL AND HIZBOLLAH, SAYING: "I think we shall continue to defend ourselves as we did unt
  • Embargoed: 21st August 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Israel
  • Country: Israel
  • Topics: Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVA4ZSCFI1E4GTQDZ0NPHTAJCX5A
  • Story Text: Israeli troops awoke to the twenty-sixth day of fighting on Sunday (August 6) as Israel vowed to keep attacking Hizbollah positions and push forward with its ground offensive into southern Lebanon until an international force arrives to take over.
    Israel has not said if it will accept a draft for a United Nations Security Council resolution that calls for a halt to fighting between Israel and Hizbollah.
    Israel's cabinet held its weekly meeting in Jerusalem but no official statement to the resolution was issued yet.
    Israeli Deputy Premier Shimon Peres commented on the issue, saying that Israel will not change its policy for the time being.
    "I think we shell continue to defend ourselves as we did until now and we will watch for what's going on in the United Nations. I hope they will reach the right decision," he said.
    Israeli Housing Minister Meir Sheetrit expressed some optimism when he said he hopes the fighting will be over soon.
    "The Security Council is convened, I think we should wait for the coming days to see how it all ends. My impression is that it is about to be over and I hope that the state of fighting will end," he said.
    Israel has said it doubted whether the Lebanese guerrilla group Hizbollah would abide by the French-U.S. draft resolution, once it passed.
    The resolution calls for a "full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hizbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations".
    A second resolution is envisaged a week or two after the first is adopted, setting down conditions for a permanent ceasefire and authorising an international force in the area.
    Israel has 10,000 troops in southern Lebanon trying to drive Hizbollah back from the border area, from where the group has fired barrages of rockets into the Jewish state.
    The war erupted on July 12 when Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in a cross-border raid.
    The conflict has killed at least 741 people in Lebanon and 78 Israelis. Hizbollah has fired 2,600 rockets into Israel.
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