Ynetnews reports that Lebanon has rejected the latest cease fire proposal, drafted by the US and France.
Lebanon rejects ceasefire draft proposal.
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Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh said “the proposal does not coincide with Lebanon’s goals because it does not call for an immediate ceasefire and (Israeli) withdrawal. The decision also discriminates against Lebanese prisoners (due to the call for the release of the kidnapped IDF troops).”
Following talks with US Assistant Secretary of State David Welch in Jerusalem, Olmert said “at this time, a new diplomatic formula with positive implications that could end the fighting is being formulated. If it isn't accepted, Israel will take off the gloves."
I’m not sure what “gloves” he’s referring to. But Netanyahu and other hawks have consistently advocated that Israel must unleash their full military might immediately, before it’s too late.
Haaretz reports that although Israeli government sources “expressed satisfaction with the new draft,” military chiefs remain strongly opposed to truce terms.
However, the Defense Ministry and the IDF General Staff are fiercely opposed to the emerging cease-fire, and senior defense officials accused Olmert of blocking the proposed advance to the Litani, thereby denying Israel a significant military achievement.
Meanwhile, Robert Fisk comments on how the Israeli advance, despite some claims to the contrary, has been
surprisingly unsuccessful so far.
Robert Fisk: Hizbollah's iron discipline is match for military machine.
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Israel's frustration - and its sense of loss since 15 of its soldiers were killed in just the fraction of the south Lebanese border area which it "controls" over the past 24 hours - was evident in a potentially criminal document which it dropped over Beirut yesterday. Signed "the State of Israel" - which at least makes its origins clear - the tracts announced that "the Israeli Defence Forces intend to expand their operations in Beirut".
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And it should be said that the Israeli army are not winning their war in southern Lebanon. Within two kilometres of their own border, they lost their 15 soldiers on Wednesday. Many others were wounded. The furthest the Israelis could reach in an armoured column yesterday was the edge of Khiam, the site of their own notorious torture prison from 1978 to 2000. It is still only two miles from the border and they are fighting a far more determined and disciplined enemy than in 1982, when their "incursion" took them as far as Beirut.
Two miles? 3,200 meters? The distance you could run in about 10-11 minutes? After all that bombing, and the alleged killing of about 400-450 Hizballah fighters?
Fisk also comments on the threat made in Israeli flyers, a warning which was diaried yesterday.
This malicious document ends with a sinister threat - which breaks all the relevant rules of the Geneva Conventions - that "each expansion of Hizbollah terrorist operations will lead to a harsh and powerful response and its painful response will not be confined to Hassan's gang of criminals".