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Israel, Hizbollah fight on as UN split on resolution

Posted on: Sunday, 6 August 2006, 20:39 CDT

By Lin Noueihed

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israeli planes bombed Hizbollah strongholds in eastern Lebanon on Monday and there were more clashes on the ground as the U.N. Security Council failed to agree on a draft resolution seeking to end the 27-day-old war.

Diplomats from the council's five permanent members -- the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France -- are to meet later on Monday after failing to agree whether to amend a draft a resolution to take account of Lebanon's concerns.

Meanwhile, there was no let up in fighting which has killed more than 800 people and both sides vowed to keep on fighting.

Israeli jets struck the eastern Bekaa Valley, including the Hizbollah stronghold of Baalbek early on Monday, security sources said.

Israeli troops also battled Hizbollah guerrillas in the southern Lebanese village of Houla, as Israeli forces, now 10,000-strong inside Lebanon, continued to push forward.

The fighting follows the deadliest day in the war so far for Israel. Hizbollah rockets killed 12 soldiers and three civilians on Sunday, bringing Israeli deaths in the conflict to 58 soldiers and 36 civilians.

Israeli bombardment of southern Lebanon killed 19 civilians and a Lebanese soldier on Sunday. At least 759 people have been killed in Lebanon, most of them civilians.

Lebanon has demanded a draft Security Council resolution drawn up by France and the United States to include a call for a quick withdrawal of Israeli troops from its soil.

That prevented Paris and Washington from putting the draft into final form -- a move that would have cleared the way for a vote on a Security Council resolution on Monday, diplomats said.

During the closed-door meeting, China and Russia argued in favor of making the resolution more attractive to Lebanon.

Lebanese officials say the existing draft, which does not demand an immediate ceasefire, can only lead to more conflict.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Sunday the resolution would not stop all the fighting in southern Lebanon but was a first step toward a lasting cessation of violence.

"I would hope that you would see very early on an end to large-scale violence," she said, but did not rule out "skirmishes for some time to come."

Bush will make a statement about the U.N. resolution at 1400 GMT on Monday from his ranch in Crawford, Texas, where he is vacationing, a White House spokesman said.

RESOLUTION REJECTED

Lebanon's parliament speaker Nabih Berri said his country rejected the draft Security Council resolution because it would let Israeli forces stay on Lebanese soil.

Berri, a Shi'ite politician who has been the main channel between Hizbollah and Prime Minister Fouad Siniora, said the draft ignored the Beirut government's seven-point plan calling for a ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the return of all displaced civilians among other things.

"All of Lebanon rejects any resolution that is outside these seven points," Berri told a news conference.

Israel views the U.N. draft favourably, a senior government official and Israeli media said, noting that it allowed Israel to respond to Hizbollah attacks after a truce and did not order Israel to withdraw its 10,000 soldiers from southern Lebanon.

Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon said Israel would keep attacking Hizbollah targets in Lebanon and its soldiers would stay there until the international force arrived.

Hizbollah says it will keep fighting until Israel stops bombing Lebanon and withdraws all its forces.

Lebanon will seek support for its position from Arab foreign ministers due to meet in Beirut on Monday.

The war coincides with an Israeli military offensive in the southern Gaza Strip to recover another captured soldier.

Israel killed two Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank on Sunday, bringing to at least 167 the number of Palestinians killed in the campaign, more than half of them civilians.

It also detained parliamentary speaker Aziz Dweik, a Hamas leader, and another Hamas lawmaker, Palestinian officials said.

(Reporting by Jerusalem, United Nations and Washington bureaux)

Source: REUTERS

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