Dissatisfied With Emerging Cease-Fire Deal, Israel Launches Wider Ground Offensive

JERUSALEM (AP) – Israel began an expanded ground offensive Friday in southern Lebanon after expressing dissatisfaction over an emerging cease-fire deal, government officials said.The officials added, however, that the offensive could be called off quickly if Israel’s basic demands are met when the U.N. Security Council votes on a proposed cease-fire arrangement later in the day.Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Defense Minister Amir Peretz decided to expand the offensive after meeting for four hours. Peretz instructed the military to launch the offensive, officials said.Olmert’s spokesman, Asaf Shariv, told The Associated Press that the expanded incursion had already begun. An emerging cease-fire deal being worked out by the U.N. Security Council fails to meet Israel’s basic requirements, such as stationing robust international combat troops in southern Lebanon once Israel withdraws, Shariv said.“Yesterday we were very optimistic, but they (the Security Council) took the wrong turn,” Shariv said.The government is implementing Wednesday’s Cabinet decision granting the army permission to carry out a massive ground offensive “to deal with the Hezbollah positions in south Lebanon, from which barrages of missiles continue to be launched against the Israeli civilian population,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.Regev added, however, that Israel was still open to a negotiated solution as the U.N. Security Council prepared to vote on a proposed cease-fire deal.“Our action does not exclude a diplomatic option. On the contrary, we are following developments in New York closely. But so far diplomacy has not produced concrete results and it is incumbent upon the government to defend its citizens,” Regev said.He said he could not comment on the time frame or scale of the offensive.Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice telephoned Olmert to ask him if there was any room left for diplomacy to solve the Mideast crisis, according to an individual close to the government with direct knowledge of the conversation.The telephone call came shortly after Israel announced it would carry out a massive ground offensive in south Lebanon because it was dissatisfied with an emerging cease-fire deal being worked out by the U.N. Security Council.Olmert has indicated he’d be willing to call off the offensive if Israel’s basic demands are met, said the individual, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the private conversation.It was not immediately clear whether the Israeli threat was meant to pressure the council, which was close to a vote on a cease-fire resolution, or whether Israel is really determined to send troops deeper into Lebanon. Israel is upset about apparent last-minute changes in the text, which would seem to weaken the mandate of a multinational force, defense officials said.They spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss the contents of the Olmert-Peretz meeting.Political correspondent Emmanuel Rosen said on Israeli TV’s Channel 10: “The Israeli ground offensive is getting under way, but they are still not ruling out the diplomatic option.”Rosen said that even after the military sends more troops into Lebanon, the campaign could be halted at any time if a satisfactory diplomatic solution is found.Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni spoke to Rice and told her Israel won’t accept any cease-fire deal, Israel TV’s Channel One reported.The Security Cabinet had approved a wider ground offensive until Lebanon’s Litani River, some 18 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border. The decision had been suspended for a few days to allow for the diplomatic effort.

Dissatisfied With Emerging Cease-Fire Deal, Israel Launches Wider Ground Offensive

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