The U.S.-French plan envisions a second resolution in a week or two that
would authorize an international military force and create a buffer zone in
south Lebanon.
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called the measure
"the first step, not the only step." Israel has not commented, except to say the
draft is important.
Hizbollah missiles
streak the sky as they are launched towards Israel from south Lebanon
August 6, 2006. [Reuters] |
The proposed resolution says the two Israeli soldiers held by Hezbollah
should be released unconditionally. The soldiers' capture July 12 triggered the
war.
Hezbollah has fired more than 3,000 rockets at Israel since the fighting
began and dozens hit on Sunday, Israeli officials said. Meanwhile, Israeli
warplanes have struck hundreds of targets across Lebanon.
The attack on Kfar Giladi was "a direct hit on a vehicle where there was a
crowd. They were all wounded and scattered in every direction, some of them were
in very bad condition," said Eli Peretz, a medic. "It was a very, very difficult
scene. I have never seen anything like it."
Bloodied army boots were placed on a stone wall. The rocket scorch two parked
cars.
Upon hearing of the slain reservists, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told
the weekly Cabinet meeting, "Lucky that we are dealing with Hezbollah today, and
not in another two or three years," according to a participant.
Later Sunday, a rocket barrage hit the northern port city of Haifa, killing
three civilians, injuring more than 40 and bringing down two buildings. A
crowded residential district took five or six hits.
Three hours later, Israeli warplanes attacked the Lebanese town of Qana and
destroyed the launchers that fired rockets on Haifa, the army said.
An Israeli attack on Qana last week killed 29 civilians. After an inquiry,
Israel said the attack was a mistake and it would not have struck the building
if it new civilians were inside. But it also accused Hezbollah of shielding
rocket launching sites behind civilians.
Sunday's deaths brought to 93 the number of Israelis killed, including 45
soldiers, the 12 reservists and 36 civilians. Israel's attacks on Lebanon have
killed at least 591 people, including 509 civilians, 29 Lebanese soldiers and 53
Hezbollah guerrillas.
Israeli air strikes killed 14 Lebanese on Sunday, including 12 civilians, a
Lebanese soldier and a Palestinian militant. In the southern town of Naqoura and
several villages near Tyre, residents called rescue officials to report more
people trapped under the rubble of crushed buildings, but crews could not
retrieve the dead because of continued bombardment.
Explosions rang across Beirut as warplanes fired more than six missiles into
Hezbollah strongholds in districts just south of the capital.
Hezbollah announced the deaths of three of its fighters, but did not say when
they died. That would bring Hezbollah's total of fighters killed to 53. But
Israeli officials said they have confirmed 165 dead guerrillas ¡ª and even have
their names ¡ª and estimated that another 200 had been killed. Israel said some
300 Hezbollah fighters remained in the area Israel was occupying in south
Lebanon.
One air strike hit south Beirut just minutes after Arab League
Secretary-General Amr Moussa touched down at a nearby airport. Missiles also
struck in that area as Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem stood next to his
Lebanese counterpart and declared Israel would never defeat the hardened
guerrilla force.
Arab League foreign ministers were to meet in Beirut on Monday for a hastily
convened session.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, speaking in Cairo, said the
gathering "is a clear message to the world to show the Arab solidarity with the
Lebanese people and in support of their demands."
Moallem, the Syrian foreign minister, said the cease-fire draft resolution
"adopted Israel's point of view only."
"As Syria's foreign minister I hope to be a soldier in the resistance," said
Moallem, the first top Syrian official to visit Lebanon since Damascus ended a
29-year military presence in Lebanon last year.
Lebanon's parliament speaker and Hezbollah's negotiator, Nabih Berri, said
the plan was unacceptable because it would leave Israeli troops in Lebanon and
does not deal with Beirut's key demands - a release of prisoners held by Israel
and moves to resolve a dispute over the Chebaa Farms border area.
"If Israel has not won the war but still gets all this, what would have
happened had they won?" Berri said. "Lebanon, all of Lebanon, rejects any talks
and any draft resolution" that do not address the Lebanese demands, he said.
The Lebanese government on Sunday asked the U.N. to revise the draft,
demanding that Israel pull its forces out immediately with the end of
hostilities.
Iran on Sunday gave its ally Hezbollah a green light to keep fighting in
Lebanon, saying that the United States cannot be a mediator in the crisis
because of its support for Israel.
Many in the U.S., Europe, the Arab world and Israel accuse Iran of fueling
the warfare in Lebanon through Hezbollah, in a bid to show its regional
strength. Iran denies it is arming the guerrillas.
