The Mideast: A Chance For Diplomacy?

(CBS/AP)  Israel says it will postpone, for two to three days, a planned expansion of its ground offensive in Lebanon - in order to give ongoing diplomatic efforts a chance. Israel had its deadliest day Wednesday, with 15 soldiers killed.

Asked by Israel Radio early Thursday about the plans for such a delay, Cabinet minister Rafi Eitan said: "There are diplomatic considerations. There is still a chance that an international force will arrive in he area. We have no interest in being in south Lebanon. We have an interest in peace on our borders."

The broadening of Israel's ground offensive into southern Lebanon, approved by Israel's Security Cabinet on Wednesday - would be a gambit aimed at bringing Hezbollah to its knees before the international community imposes a cease-fire.

Early Thursday, Israel Army Radio reported heavy battles in progress in south Lebanese villages across from Israel's Galilee panhandle. That area has been hard-hit by Hezbollah rockets.

The plan to force Hezbollah guerrillas — and their short-range rockets — out of southern Lebanon and past the Litani River would escalate the fierce fighting there and, if successful, leave Israel in control of a security zone that it evacuated six years ago after a bloody 18-year occupation.

A new Israeli offensive would also put tremendous pressure on the United Nations to agree quickly on a cease-fire to end the fighting that has killed at least 829 people, caused widespread destruction across southern Lebanon and forced hundreds of thousands of Israelis into bomb shelters. Israeli officials implied they would halt the new offensive if a cease-fire agreement removes Hezbollah from the border.

In a televised speech Wednesday, Hezbollah's leader taunted the Israelis.

"If you enter our land, we will throw you out by force and we will turn the land of our invaluable south into your graveyard," Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said. "We will be waiting for you at every village, at every valley. Thousands of courageous holy warriors are waiting for you."

Israeli soldiers returning from the front say that Hezbollah members fight hard, are well-organized and well dug-in, reports CBS News correspondent Allen Pizzey.

Hezbollah also says its stockpile of rockets has not been depleted, and it warned Arab residents of the often-hit Israeli city of Haifa to leave for their own safety, Pizzey adds.

The White House said neither Israel nor Hezbollah should escalate their war. Although White House press secretary Tony Snow said the message was for both sides, the criticism was among the Bush administration's strongest concerning longtime ally Israel since the fighting began.

In other developments:

An Israel air strike against Islamic militants in Gaza City on Wednesday killed three Palestinians, including a 5-year-old girl, and wounded two others, Palestinian officials and witnesses said. The Israeli army said its forces attacked a terrorist training camp in Gaza, but gave no further details.

Israel's military chief appointed his deputy to oversee Israel's battles in Lebanon, sidelining the current commander in an unusual shake-up as Israel is expected to intensify its military campaign.

French President Jacques Chirac said Wednesday that giving up on efforts to secure an immediate Mideast cease-fire would be the international community's "most immoral" possible response, implicitly criticizing the U.S. reservations about a quick end to the fighting.

The president of the International Committee of the Red Cross ducked into a bomb shelter in Nahariya, Israel, as air raid sirens wailed over northern Israel on Wednesday, and said he was distressed at civilian suffering from the war between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon. Jakob Kellenberger, who crossed the Lebanese-Israeli border earlier Wednesday, said he was distressed to see that it was "always civilians on both sides who pay the price" for war.

Traveling with the Red Cross convoy was Israeli magician Uri Geller, who acted as an unofficial spokesman for the Israeli delegation. Asked by one of the children in the shelters what magic he could do, Geller said, "The magic will be that the war will end and you'll get out of here." Then he performed his trademark trick, bending a spoon with the power of his mind.

Diplomatic efforts to reach a quick U.N. resolution faltered over differences between Washington and Paris on an Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon. France backed Lebanon's call for Israeli troops to pull out once hostilities end, while the United States supported Israel's insistence on staying until a robust international force is deployed. Lebanon has offered to send troops to patrol the border region.

French President Jacques Chirac appealed for rapid agreement.

"The most immoral of solutions would be to accept the current situation and give up on an immediate cease-fire," he said.

Nasrallah rejected a draft U.N. resolution that would temporarily let Israeli troops remain in south Lebanon and take defensive action.

"The least we can describe this (draft resolution) is as unfair and unjust. It has given Israel more than it wanted and more than it was looking for," he said. He also signaled Hezbollah's intention to step up attacks, calling on Israeli Arabs to leave the northern city of Haifa so Hezbollah could pound it with rockets and not worry about killing fellow Muslims.

Israeli officials said their new offensive was meant to run parallel to the cease-fire talks.

"Israel is still working for a diplomatic solution, preferably in the Security Council," said Isaac Herzog, a member of Israel's Security Cabinet, which voted Wednesday to approve the new ground offensive. "We cannot wait forever, we have a million civilians living in bomb shelters, and we have to protect them."

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[emtak]

The polital, military,, social, and religious ingredients now existing in the Middle East are providing the most dangerous potential for a large scale conflict since the Korean War.

The United States is an ally and loyal sponsor of the the current state of Israel. Iran and Syria are sponsors of the Muslim terrorist army Hezbollah,and the Lebanese majority and its legitimate government will have no choice but to flee, fight, lay down and die, or just try to survive for the forseeable future..

In the mean time, France is meeting with Syria and countering US diplomatic efforts. Russia and China wait in the wings, while it is quite possible that North Korea is keeping a watchful on on events for signs of opportunity.

With the help of God, Yahweh, and Allah this may resolve itself peacefully.

But it is said fools rush in where angels fear to tread--and I don't blame them. This is a conflict created by the folly of human beings. The Creator is no one's scapegoat--and only He decides when the light go out.

A lot of sparrows may fall from the sky, but, don'ty worry-- tommorow the sky will continue to be their.

American's may want to begin lacing up their bootstraps though, the horizons of Freedom are growing quite dark from where I'm standing.

[free ringtones]

Israel survived against all odds and made democracy and the desert bloom in a region hostile to liberty and greenery - Freedom and terrorism cannot coexist.... http://www.middle-east-info.org/gateway/supportisrael/index.htm

[free ringtones]

For all the Arabs where ever you are %u2013 maybe you are just fanatical, zealous!!!! We have the same father Averham Avinu but not the same mother that all the different %u2013 god gave us the promise land and not to the yshmaels(Arabs:Islam) it's written black on white on your Qran

[free ringtones]

I can%u2019t explain exactly how foolish, stupid, silly you Arabs & Iran%u2019s - when you will realize that god with us and nothing will help you http://middle-east-info.org/

[isaiahelijah]

Why does Israel disgust you? God gave them the land and they have been kicked out and treated badly. They are the only righteous living nation in the middle east.