WORLD / Middle East
Israel approves wider ground offensive
(AP)
Updated: 2006-08-01 08:35
Israel's prime minister declared Monday that there would be no cease-fire
with Hezbollah guerrillas, apologizing for the deaths of Lebanese
civilians but saying "we will not give up on our goal to live a life free
of terror." His Security Cabinet approved widening the ground offensive.
Israeli warplanes hit Hezbollah fighters battling with soldiers near the
border as the guerrillas fired mortars into Israel. But an Israeli
suspension of most airstrikes in Lebanon - and a pause by the guerrillas
on rocket attacks in northern Israel - brought both countries their
quietest day since the conflict began three weeks ago.
An Israeli gunner prayers at an artillery position near the Lebanese
border in northern Israel, Monday, July 31, 2006. Reacting to withering
world criticism, Israel agreed to a 48-hour suspension of air strikes in
Lebanon after a Sunday bombing killed at least 56 Lebanese, most of them
women and children, leveling a building where they had taken shelter from
earlier Israeli attacks. [AP]
Lebanese fled north in overflowing trucks and cars. About 200 people -
mostly elderly - escaped the border town of Bint Jbail, where Israeli
troops and Hezbollah guerrillas fought their bloodiest clashes. Two
residents dropped dead on the road out, one of malnutrition, the other of
heart failure.
Some survivors described living on a piece of candy a day and dirty water
as the fighting raged.
"All the time I thought of death," said Rimah Bazzi, an American visiting
from Dearborn, Mich., who spent weeks hiding with her three children and
mother in the house of a local doctor.
The lull was felt across northern Israel, too: In the town of Nahariya,
residents who had been hiding in shelters for the better part of three
weeks began emerging. Supermarkets were fuller than before and more
people were in the streets, walking along the beach and shopping.
But diplomatic efforts to end the crisis faltered, despite increased
world pressure for a cease-fire after the devastating strike in Qana.
Israel's Security Cabinet early Tuesday approved widening the ground
offensive, a participant said, and rejected a cease-fire until an
international force is in place in southern Lebanon.
The participant, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not
authorized to talk to reporters, said Israel's airstrikes would resume
"in full force" after a 48-hour suspension expires in another day.
Thousands of army reserves have been called up in recent days in advance
of the decision, which is expected to lead to sending more troops into
the border area. Israeli leaders have said they want to carve out a zone
about 1 mile wide that would be free of Hezbollah.
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