Israel set to turn up heat in Lebanon offensive

JERUSALEM – Israel’s security cabinet looked set to turn up the heat in its offensive against Hezbollah yesterday, a day after nine of its soldiers were killed in a fierce ground fight in southern Lebanon.

Ahead of the meeting, several ministers who are part of the cabinet said it was time to expand the 16-day-old offensive, which has killed more than 400 people in Lebanon, most of them civilians, and 51 Israelis, mostly troops. “Maximum firepower has to be used,” Justice Minister Haim Ramon told army radio.”We have to exploit the advantages that we have over Hezbollah with the air force and artillery and be cautious when we use ground troops,” he said.The security cabinet was meeting behind closed doors a day after nine Israeli soldiers were killed in fierce battles with Hezbollah, the deadliest day for the Israeli forces since they began their offensive on July 12.Ramon said that international talks the previous day in Rome, which broke up without agreement on a ceasefire call, gave Israel “authorisation” to press its offensive.”The whole world knows that a Hezbollah victory will mean a victory for international terrorism, which will be a catastrophe for the world and for Israel,” he said.Ramon warned that Israeli forces will consider all people who remain in south Lebanon as combatants, in a grim hint that the already heavy civilian casualties there were likely to rise further.”Everyone who is still in south Lebanon is linked to Hezbollah, we have called on all who are there to leave,” he said.”Bint Jbeil is not a civilian location, we have to treat it like a military zone,” he said in reference to a border town of up to 30 000 people which is a Hezbollah stronghold.It was around Bint Jbeil that the nine Israeli soldiers were killed during intensive fighting with Hezbollah on Wednesday.The civilian death toll in Lebanon has sparked widespead international condemnation.Israeli officials say it has been high because Hezbollah fighters operate and keep their weapons in civilian areas.Army radio cited another minister on the security cabinet as saying: “We should raze the villages in south Lebanon if needed.”The more time passes, the more it appears that the only solution is a massive incursion up to the Awali River (more than 60 kilometres north of the border) to destroy all the missile launching sites.”The statements were echoed in the Israeli press, with the nation’s biggest-selling daily, Yediot Aharonot, writing that the military had already decided to step up the offensive in Lebanon.”The IDF (Israel Defence Force) general staff decided to raise the threshold of response towards villages from which Katyusha rockets are fired at Israel,” said senior military correspondent Alex Fishman.”In other words, a village from which rockets are fired at Israel will simply be destroyed by fire, from the air and from the ground.This decision should have been made and executed after the first Katyusha.Better late than never.”The vast majority of Israelis continue to support the offensive, according to a poll released on Thursday but conducted before the deaths of the nine soldiers.Some 82 per cent said they backed continuing the offensive against Hezbollah, compared with 90 per cent last week, according to the poll.Some 12 per cent, compared to eight per cent last week, said they supported an immediate ceasefire and negotiations for the release of the two Israeli soldiers seized by Hezbollah on July 12 in a cross-border raid that killed eight other soldiers and sparked the Israeli offensive.Israel says it will continue its offensive until Hezbollah is weakened enough to stop firing rockets into Israel and its soldiers are returned.The Israeli parliament was on Monday due to hold a second extraordinary session on the Lebanese crisis since adjourning for a summer recess on July 19.- Nampa-Reuters”Maximum firepower has to be used,” Justice Minister Haim Ramon told army radio.”We have to exploit the advantages that we have over Hezbollah with the air force and artillery and be cautious when we use ground troops,” he said.The security cabinet was meeting behind closed doors a day after nine Israeli soldiers were killed in fierce battles with Hezbollah, the deadliest day for the Israeli forces since they began their offensive on July 12.Ramon said that international talks the previous day in Rome, which broke up without agreement on a ceasefire call, gave Israel “authorisation” to press its offensive.”The whole world knows that a Hezbollah victory will mean a victory for international terrorism, which will be a catastrophe for the world and for Israel,” he said.Ramon warned that Israeli forces will consider all people who remain in south Lebanon as combatants, in a grim hint that the already heavy civilian casualties there were likely to rise further.”Everyone who is still in south Lebanon is linked to Hezbollah, we have called on all who are there to leave,” he said.”Bint Jbeil is not a civilian location, we have to treat it like a military zone,” he said in reference to a border town of up to 30 000 people which is a Hezbollah stronghold.It was around Bint Jbeil that the nine Israeli soldiers were killed during intensive fighting with Hezbollah on Wednesday.The civilian death toll in Lebanon has sparked widespead international condemnation.Israeli officials say it has been high because Hezbollah fighters operate and keep their weapons in civilian areas.Army radio cited another minister on the security cabinet as saying: “We should raze the villages in south Lebanon if needed.”The more time passes, the more it appears that the only solution is a massive incursion up to the Awali River (more than 60 kilometres north of the border) to destroy all the missile launching sites.”The statements were echoed in the Israeli press, with the nation’s biggest-selling daily, Yediot Aharonot, writing that the military had already decided to step up the offensive in Lebanon.”The IDF (Israel Defence Force) general staff decided to raise the threshold of response towards villages from which Katyusha rockets are fired at Israel,” said senior military correspondent Alex Fishman.”In other words, a village from which rockets are fired at Israel will simply be destroyed by fire, from the air and from the ground.This decision should have been made and executed after the first Katyusha.Better late than never.”The vast majority of Israelis continue to support the offensive, according to a poll released on Thursday but conducted before the deaths of the nine soldiers.Some 82 per cent said they backed continuing the offensive against Hezbollah, compared with 90 per cent last week, according to the poll.Some 12 per cent, compared to eight per cent last week, said they supported an immediate ceasefire and negotiations for the release of the two Israeli soldiers seized by Hezbollah on July 12 in a cross-border raid that killed eight other soldiers and sparked the Israeli offensive.Israel says it will continue its offensive until Hezbollah is weakened enough to stop firing rockets into Israel and its soldiers are returned.The Israeli parliament was on Monday due to hold a second extraordinary session on the Lebanese crisis since adjourning for a summer recess on July 19.- Nampa-Reuters