Arab nations demand UN shift to end Lebanon war

BEIRUT - Arab countries will press the UN Security Council on Tuesday for changes to a draft resolution to end the four-week-old war between Israel and Hezbollah because they say it favours the Jewish state.

Israel said it would expand its military offensive in Lebanon if there was no diplomatic solution soon.

Lebanese rescue workers dug with their hands and a bulldozer through rubble of a building in southern Beirut in the hope of finding survivors from an Israeli air strike on Monday that they said killed at least 18 people.

Israeli air raids killed more than 50 people on Monday, making it one of deadliest days for Lebanon in the war. Lebanese Health Minister Mohammad Khalifeh said 925 people, mostly civilians, had been killed before Monday’s casualties.

Ninety-seven Israelis have been killed since Hezbollah guerrillas triggered the war on July 12 by capturing two Israeli soldiers. Hezbollah, which has strongholds in southern Lebanon, has fired rockets into the Jewish state, killing civilians.

Despite global alarm at the rising civilian casualties, days of intensive diplomatic efforts at the UN Security Council to bring about a ceasefire and lasting peace have so far failed.

France and the United States have drafted a resolution but are considering changes to overcome Arab criticism.

Arab countries want an immediate Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon as part of any deal but US President George W. Bush resisted the demand, telling reporters it could create a vacuum and allow Hezbollah guerrillas to rearm.

With Arab League representatives due to meet the UN Security Council president, US Ambassador John Bolton told reporters: “We will listen to those views very carefully.”

Washington, which blames Hezbollah and its main allies Iran and Syria for the conflict, said it was impossible to please everyone and that US and French officials had been in touch with Lebanese and Israeli officials when they drafted the text.

Israeli media and one senior government official have said the Jewish state viewed the draft resolution favourably, partly because it would allow Israeli soldiers to remain in southern Lebanon until an international force arrived to take over.

UN vote

Diplomats said the Security Council was unlikely to vote on the draft resolution until Wednesday. The draft calls for a ”full cessation of hostilities” and says Hezbollah must stop all attacks while Israel must halt “offensive military operations”.

Lebanon’s government said it would send 15,000 Lebanese troops to the south, a move long demanded by the international community. But it demanded an immediate Israeli withdrawal before it would embark on such a deployment.

Israel has said it would not pull out its troops in the south until a strong international force was deployed.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz said his country’s ground offensive in Lebanon would be expanded to take control of all of Hezbollah’s Katyusha rocket launching sites if there was no diplomatic solution “within the coming days”.

Political sources said Peretz had called at a government meeting for a further advance to the Litani River, 20 km (13 miles) inside Lebanon and well beyond the 6-7 km deep zone where Israeli forces have carved out a “security zone”.

The Israeli army told residents of southern Lebanon any vehicles seen moving after 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Monday could be targeted. Residents of Tyre stayed at home and the streets of the southern coastal city were deserted.

“Anyone who does travel is taking a high risk. There is no end period,” an Israeli army source said. “This will allow us to track anyone potentially trying to launch rockets.”

Israeli warplanes struck in the western Bekaa Valley overnight and artillery pounded the southern town of Khiam, witnesses said.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Israel’s bombing of the Lebanese village of Qana on July 29 appeared to fit a pattern of violations of international law marking warfare between Israel and Hezbollah.

In a report to the Security Council, Annan said a comprehensive investigation was needed into the bombing that Lebanese reports said killed at least 54 people.

An estimated 900,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon by the war. Relief efforts have been hampered by Israeli air strikes on roads, bridges and trucks in Lebanon.

International aid groups said Israel was providing no security guarantees, effectively paralysing delivery of aid south of the Litani.