France, US strike deal as Lebanon endures heaviest battering
PARIS (AFP) - France and the United States agreed on a draft UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire in Lebanon as Israel hammered the country with what police described as the heaviest bombardment of the 25-day-old conflict.
But Hezbollah warned that the Shiite movement's guerrillas would only stop fighting if Israel halted attacks and pulled out of south Lebanon.
Lebanese Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish, a Hezbollah member, said the movement was wary.
"We are in a defense situation. When the Israeli aggression ceases, very simply, we will stop (fighting) on condition that no Israeli soldier remains inside Lebanese land," he said.
For his part, Israeli Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog said the draft resolution was "very important" because it showed that the diplomatic process had kicked in.
However, he said Israel "needs to know all the details before responding, because the resolution can still be changed.
"Until the resolution enters into force, the army will continue to act," he added, saying time was running out and that Israel will need to complete its offensive in the coming days.
US President George W. Bush is "happy" with the draft but has "no delusions" about how hard it will be to end the fighting, his spokesman said.
The spokesman added that "there's going to be more than one resolution," but declined to detail what would be in that follow-up initiative.
He dismissed suggestions that Bush might telephone Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, saying "I don't know if he needs to" and adding "I haven't heard Olmert complaining."
Asked whether Bush believed that there was a long way yet to ending the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Snow replied: "I don't think he has any delusions about what lies ahead."
Washington's UN ambassador, John Bolton, said the United States was prepared to adopt a resolution on the conflict as swiftly as possible.
But he warned that settling differences between Washington and Paris was not the final step, because a formal resolution would depend on the reaction of the UN Security Council's 13 other members.
"We want to move as quickly as other members in the council want to move," Bolton told CNN television.
He refused to speculate when a resolution could be passed.
Earlier, French President Jacques Chirac's office said the two nations had agreed "on the draft resolution on the Middle East prepared by France to call for a complete cessation of hostilities and work towards permanent ceasefire and long-term solution."
The resolution was to be submitted by France to the Security Council later Saturday "in the interest of securing the widest agreement," it added, without disclosing details.
The draft resolution, of which AFP has obtained a copy, calls for a "full cessation of hostilities, based upon ... the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all offensive military operations."
It calls for Israel and Lebanon to "support a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution."
That would be based on "strict respect by all parties for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Israel and Lebanon" and "delineation of the international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including in the Shebaa Farms area."
The Security Council was scheduled to hold consultations at 1900 GMT.
The United States opposes what it terms a "fake peace" resolution that fails to tackle what it regards as the underlying problem of Hezbollah's presence on the border.
France, the former colonial power in Lebanon, commands the existing UN peacekeeping force deployed in the border area and is widely expected to lead a beefed up international force being advocated by Israel and its US ally.
But it has had qualms about the circumstances in which the force would be deployed and the terms of its mandate.
In the space of seven hours Saturday, Israel hit Lebanon with around 250 air raids and some 4,000 shells, killing two people and wounding at least 37, police said.
The single village of Aitaroun near the border endured a barrage of 2,000 rounds.
Israeli artillery was systematically levelling 15 villages within five kilometres (three miles) of the border after Israeli leaders vowed to create a security zone free of Hezbollah fighters in the area, the police added.
Israeli planes dropped pamphlets over parts of southern Lebanon warning that Hezbollah positions in the town of Sidon and elsewhere would be bombarded, the army said.
Lebanese Health Minister Mohammed Khalifeh expressed concern about the ongoing Israeli blockade of Lebanon, saying hospitals only had fuel for one more week because Israel continued to prevent shipments.
However, the Israeli military said it had given the green light to two fuel tankers to access Lebanon's shores, adding that the tankers had refused to approach for fear of being targeted by Hezbollah.
Hospitals have been working flat out to cope with an estimated 3,300 people wounded in the Israeli offensive, which has also killed almost 1,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Lebanese authorities.
Saturday's intensified air raids and shelling followed a night raid by Israeli commandos on the coastal city of Tyre that met fierce resistance from Hezbollah fighters. A Lebanese soldier was killed and eight Israelis soldiers wounded, two of them seriously.
One Israeli soldier was also killed and another wounded in fighting around the village of Taibeh close to the border.
An Israeli naval commander said four Hezbollah leaders were killed in the raid on Tyre. There was no immediate confirmation from the Shiite militant group.
The officer said the operation was in response to the firing of a missile on the Israeli town of Hadera 70 kilometers (45 miles) from the frontier on Friday evening -- the deepest strike into Israel of the present conflict.
Israeli planes also struck the southern suburbs of Beirut for a third night.
There was no immediate word on casualties in the Hezbollah stronghold, which has been repeatedly pounded since Israel launched its offensive after the group captured two soldiers in a deadly raid on July 12.
The renewed attacks failed to halt rocket fire on Israeli towns. A mother and her two adult daughters were killed and 10 people were lightly wounded when rockets hit northern Israel.
On Friday, three Israeli civilians were killed and eight wounded when Hezbollah fired 220 rockets at Israel.
Authorities in Tel Aviv began preparing bomb shelters on Friday after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah threatened to hit the commercial capital of Tel Aviv for the first time if Israel struck central Beirut.
The head of Israel's north command, General Udi Adam, said his troops had eliminated more than half of Hezbollah's longer-range weapons and now controlled a border strip up to 10 kilometres (six miles) wide.
Lebanon estimates the strikes have damaged infrastructure to the tune of 2.5 billion dollars.
Israel has lost 45 soldiers and 33 civilians, Hezbollah says it has lost 48 of its fighters and an allied Shiite group -- Amal -- says it has lost another seven.
PARIS (AFP) - France and the United States agreed on a draft UN Security Council resolution on a ceasefire in Lebanon as Israel hammered the country with what police described as the heaviest bombardment of the 25-day-old conflict.
But Hezbollah warned that the Shiite movement's guerrillas would only stop fighting if Israel halted attacks and pulled out of south Lebanon.
Lebanese Energy Minister Mohammed Fneish, a Hezbollah member, said the movement was wary.
"We are in a defense situation. When the Israeli aggression ceases, very simply, we will stop (fighting) on condition that no Israeli soldier remains inside Lebanese land," he said.
For his part, Israeli Tourism Minister Isaac Herzog said the draft resolution was "very important" because it showed that the diplomatic process had kicked in.
However, he said Israel "needs to know all the details before responding, because the resolution can still be changed.
"Until the resolution enters into force, the army will continue to act," he added, saying time was running out and that Israel will need to complete its offensive in the coming days.
US President George W. Bush is "happy" with the draft but has "no delusions" about how hard it will be to end the fighting, his spokesman said.
The spokesman added that "there's going to be more than one resolution," but declined to detail what would be in that follow-up initiative.
He dismissed suggestions that Bush might telephone Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, saying "I don't know if he needs to" and adding "I haven't heard Olmert complaining."
Asked whether Bush believed that there was a long way yet to ending the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, Snow replied: "I don't think he has any delusions about what lies ahead."
Washington's UN ambassador, John Bolton, said the United States was prepared to adopt a resolution on the conflict as swiftly as possible.
But he warned that settling differences between Washington and Paris was not the final step, because a formal resolution would depend on the reaction of the UN Security Council's 13 other members.
"We want to move as quickly as other members in the council want to move," Bolton told CNN television.
He refused to speculate when a resolution could be passed.
Earlier, French President Jacques Chirac's office said the two nations had agreed "on the draft resolution on the Middle East prepared by France to call for a complete cessation of hostilities and work towards permanent ceasefire and long-term solution."
The resolution was to be submitted by France to the Security Council later Saturday "in the interest of securing the widest agreement," it added, without disclosing details.
The draft resolution, of which AFP has obtained a copy, calls for a "full cessation of hostilities, based upon ... the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all offensive military operations."
It calls for Israel and Lebanon to "support a permanent ceasefire and a long-term solution."
That would be based on "strict respect by all parties for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Israel and Lebanon" and "delineation of the international borders of Lebanon, especially in those areas where the border is disputed or uncertain, including in the Shebaa Farms area."
The Security Council was scheduled to hold consultations at 1900 GMT.
The United States opposes what it terms a "fake peace" resolution that fails to tackle what it regards as the underlying problem of Hezbollah's presence on the border.
France, the former colonial power in Lebanon, commands the existing UN peacekeeping force deployed in the border area and is widely expected to lead a beefed up international force being advocated by Israel and its US ally.
But it has had qualms about the circumstances in which the force would be deployed and the terms of its mandate.
In the space of seven hours Saturday, Israel hit Lebanon with around 250 air raids and some 4,000 shells, killing two people and wounding at least 37, police said.
The single village of Aitaroun near the border endured a barrage of 2,000 rounds.
Israeli artillery was systematically levelling 15 villages within five kilometres (three miles) of the border after Israeli leaders vowed to create a security zone free of Hezbollah fighters in the area, the police added.
Israeli planes dropped pamphlets over parts of southern Lebanon warning that Hezbollah positions in the town of Sidon and elsewhere would be bombarded, the army said.
Lebanese Health Minister Mohammed Khalifeh expressed concern about the ongoing Israeli blockade of Lebanon, saying hospitals only had fuel for one more week because Israel continued to prevent shipments.
However, the Israeli military said it had given the green light to two fuel tankers to access Lebanon's shores, adding that the tankers had refused to approach for fear of being targeted by Hezbollah.
Hospitals have been working flat out to cope with an estimated 3,300 people wounded in the Israeli offensive, which has also killed almost 1,000 people, mostly civilians, according to Lebanese authorities.
Saturday's intensified air raids and shelling followed a night raid by Israeli commandos on the coastal city of Tyre that met fierce resistance from Hezbollah fighters. A Lebanese soldier was killed and eight Israelis soldiers wounded, two of them seriously.
One Israeli soldier was also killed and another wounded in fighting around the village of Taibeh close to the border.
An Israeli naval commander said four Hezbollah leaders were killed in the raid on Tyre. There was no immediate confirmation from the Shiite militant group.
The officer said the operation was in response to the firing of a missile on the Israeli town of Hadera 70 kilometers (45 miles) from the frontier on Friday evening -- the deepest strike into Israel of the present conflict.
Israeli planes also struck the southern suburbs of Beirut for a third night.
There was no immediate word on casualties in the Hezbollah stronghold, which has been repeatedly pounded since Israel launched its offensive after the group captured two soldiers in a deadly raid on July 12.
The renewed attacks failed to halt rocket fire on Israeli towns. A mother and her two adult daughters were killed and 10 people were lightly wounded when rockets hit northern Israel.
On Friday, three Israeli civilians were killed and eight wounded when Hezbollah fired 220 rockets at Israel.
Authorities in Tel Aviv began preparing bomb shelters on Friday after Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah threatened to hit the commercial capital of Tel Aviv for the first time if Israel struck central Beirut.
The head of Israel's north command, General Udi Adam, said his troops had eliminated more than half of Hezbollah's longer-range weapons and now controlled a border strip up to 10 kilometres (six miles) wide.
Lebanon estimates the strikes have damaged infrastructure to the tune of 2.5 billion dollars.
Israel has lost 45 soldiers and 33 civilians, Hezbollah says it has lost 48 of its fighters and an allied Shiite group -- Amal -- says it has lost another seven.
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