Israel to end attack against Lebanon if Hezbollah disarms
Beirut (AsiaNews) People in Beirut's southern neighbourhoods are counting their dead, coping with the injured or fleeing. After three Israeli air strikes Hezbollah's headquarters are in ruins and empty. Beirut airport was hit again and 18 b ridges and viaducts destroyed, including some in the Lebanese capital itself. The highway to Damascus was also targeted. Shells from Israeli gunboats hit the southern coastal city of Tyre and the nearby Palestinian refugee camp of Rashidiya. First estimates put total damages at US$ 40 billion.
After yesterday's pummelling, Israel's attack against Lebanon appears to be intensifying. But Israeli officials have said the Jewish State is willing to stop if its two missing soldiers are released and Hezbollah disarmed.
Israeli fighters, which have targetted the Shiite movement's strongholds in Beirut and southern Lebanon, has also struck targets near Msayeh village, not far from parliamentary speaker and Amal leader Nabih Berri's summer home. Amal is another Shiite party close to Hezbollah.
Air raids have been reported in Christian cities like Ain Ebl, (birthplace of former Maronite Patriarch Khoraiche) and villages like come Rmeich and Qlaiha. Unconfirmed reports put the number of dead at 220 dead, mostly civilians.
The US State Department urged its diplomats to leave Beirut. Foreign tourists who had flocked to Lebanon for their summer holidays are also hastily fleeing.
Mgr Mansour Houbeika, Zahle's Maronite bishop, has launched an appeal calling for an end to the bombardment.
Christian and Muslim religious leaders in southern Lebanon have condemned all military actions, stressing how dangerous the situation currently is, urging all parties to make a constructive contribution to end the wave of violence.
Mgr Paul Matar, Beirut's Maronite bishop, also condemned the wave of violence that cost the lives of so many civilians, not spare places of worship like St Michael Cathedral, located near Hezbollah's headquarters, and now totally destroyed. He appealed to the world to end its silence.
In Israel, the government's decision to go for broke against Hezbollah, reiterated today, is fully supported by a majority of public opinion and political parties, but worries the rest of the world.
Israel responded to Lebanon's request for a ceasefire laying down three conditions: release of the two soldiers abducted by Hezbollah, an end to rocket fire against northern Israel and implementation by the Lebanese government of UN Security Council resolution 1559, which requires Hezbollah's disarmament.
In a recent press release, the Lebanese government after condemning "Israeli aggression", which violates international decisions, pacts and conventions and is not motivated by self-defence, alluded to the need for a new attitude towards Hezbollah.
The ongoing national dialogue, which was interrupted by the current crisis, had run up against the issues of disarming the "resistance" and replacing it along the border with Israel with Lebanon's regular army.
In its statement, the cabinet "reaffirmed its support for all international resolutions and its commitment to extend its authority to all Lebanese territories while respecting the Blue Line", reasserting its right to make decisions for the nation inside and outside its borders.
The aforementioned wording, which Shiite cabinet members tried to change calling it a trap for Hezbollah, is echoed in Saudi-based Arab News.
In an article titled "Saner Counsels Must Prevail", an official Saudi government source was quoted as saying that whilst the kingdom backed "the legal Palestinian resistance to military occupation" and the "Lebanese resistance until the end of the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon", it now "wanted to clearly state that there must be a differentiation between legal resistance and unaccountable adventures committed by elements within a state without referring to a legal state authority, or consulting and coordinating with Arab countries. Their actions thus expose all Arab countries to grave danger and their achievements to destruction."
By contrast, according to SANA, the national news agency of Hezbollah's co-sponsor Syria (the other is Iran), highlighted Iranian President Ahmadinejad's phone call to Assad reiterating "Iran's standing by Syria and supporting her to face up with the unjust campaigns and pressures."
On other diplomatic fronts, action to find ways to stop the violence is intensifying. European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana is scheduled to arrive in the Mideast tomorrow.
The G8 summit in Russia is going to discuss the crisis on Saturday after Russia added it to the agenda.
A UN delegation headed by Vijay Nambiar, Kofi Annan's Special Political Advisor, is set to arrive in Cairo where the Arab League is meeting. It will then proceed to Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Lebanon and Syria. (YH)
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