NEWS: Israeli Deaths Mount in Lebanon Before Cease-Fire (Update2)
bloomberg.com
Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Israel said as many as 24 soldiers died in a push north toward Lebanon's Litani River, the heaviest toll in a month of fighting and a day before the start of a United Nations-imposed cease-fire.
Nineteen troops were confirmed dead and five others were missing and feared dead, an Israel Defense Forces spokeswoman said. Five died when their helicopter was hit by Hezbollah fire, the spokeswoman said by telephone. The army estimated it killed at least 54 Hezbollah fighters since the operation began Aug. 11.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his Lebanese counterpart, Fouad Siniora, agreed that a Security Council- mandated cease-fire would begin at 5 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time tomorrow, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said in a statement on the UN Web site today. That's 8 a.m. in Israel and Lebanon.
``The fighting should stop now to respect the spirit and intent of the council decision, the object of which was to save civilian lives, to spare the pain and suffering that the civilians on both sides are living through,'' Annan said.
Israel began deepening its incursion into Lebanon two days ago as the Security Council was meeting. It airlifted hundreds of troops into the country in an effort to take positions up to the Litani before the cease-fire and remove the threat of Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel. The Litani runs as much as 30 kilometers (19 miles) north of Israel's border with Lebanon.
Military Operations
The UN plan aims to bring an end to the fighting that broke out July 12 after Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border attack. The war has cost the lives of 882 Lebanese lives and as many as 148 Israelis, including those missing and presumed dead, according to official figures from both countries.
Israel's Cabinet met early today to vote on the plan and to receive reports on military operations in Lebanon. Olmert pledged to win the release of the two hostages as well as a third abducted by Palestinians on June 25.
``Israel has done and will do everything in its power to enable our boys come home quickly and, of course, we will continue our effort to rescue Gilad Shalit,'' Olmert said in remarks broadcast on Israel Radio before the session began.
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange's benchmark TA-25 index rose as much as 3 percent today, its biggest one-day gain since July 18, on expectations the cease-fire will take effect soon. The index was trading up 2.3 percent at 784.12 at 12:16 p.m. local time, cutting its loss since the start of the war to about 3 percent.
UN Resolution
Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer said in an interview with Bloomberg released today that the war with Hezbollah will cut the nation's economic growth rate by 1 percentage point this year. Gross domestic product was running at a 6 percent annual pace in the first half.
Security Council Resolution 1701, approved unanimously two days ago, demands an end to the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, and the withdrawal of Israeli troops as combined UN and Lebanese forces move into southern Lebanon.
The three parties to the conflict -- Israel, Hezbollah and Lebanon -- have said they will adhere to the cease-fire, although some said their acceptance was conditional. Hezbollah, which the U.S. designates a terrorist organization and which is backed y Iran and Syria, operates a militia independent of Lebanon's army.
Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah's secretary general, said in a speech broadcast yesterday by the organization's al-Manar television station that he will adhere to the UN resolution once Israel halts its operations in Lebanon.
``Once we reach what is called the cessation of hostilities, the resistance will abide by it without hesitation,'' Nasrallah said yesterday. He said some parts of the resolution were unfair because it blamed Hezbollah for the war.
Bombing Runs
Hezbollah has fired more than 3,400 rockets into northern Israel. The Israelis have carried out more than 6,500 bombing runs in Lebanon, in addition to the land incursion.
One person was killed in the area of the Israeli town of Nahariya as 77 Hezbollah rockets hit the northern part of the country today, police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said by telephone. He said nine were injured.
A truck driver was killed and four civilians were injured in an Israeli air raid in the eastern Lebanese town of Shaat, the national news agency reported. The IDF said in an e-mailed statement the it carried out over 100 aerial attacks, targeting about 50 Hezbollah command stations and structures.
Three civilians were killed and seven others injured in Israeli shelling of houses in the eastern Lebanese town of Ali al-Nahri, the national news agency reported.
Qualitative Leap
The Lebanese government, which includes ministers from Hezbollah, yesterday approved the UN cease-fire resolution, Jihad Azour, the Lebanese finance minister, said in a telephone interview from Beirut. Ministers are scheduled to discuss the terms of the resolution in more detail today.
``This resolution was a qualitative leap from the previous draft that was proposed,'' Azour said.
Isaac Herzog, Israel's tourism minister, told reporters before today's cabinet meeting that there was no contradiction between's Israel accepting the cease-fire plan and its expanded military campaign in Lebanon.
``We are preparing the ground for a smoother entry of the international force into south Lebanon,'' he said.
Yisrael Maimon, the Israeli Cabinet secretary, said in remarks broadcast on Israel's Channel 2 that Israel expected to pull its troops out of south Lebanon within two weeks as the Lebanese army deploys in the area.
Besides ending the fighting, the Security Council measure authorizes an expansion of an existing UN observer mission of about 2,000 troops in Lebanon to as many as 15,000 personnel. That force, with a broader military mandate, would assist 15,000 Lebanese soldiers sent to keep the peace.
The initiative would create a buffer zone to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah rocket attacks and would allow Lebanon to exert its authority in the area and begin to recover from the war.
The resolution asks Annan to make proposals within 30 days on disarming Hezbollah and dealing with the border dispute involving the Shebaa farms area. |
