Translated material
Third Front
The Israelis made a gift to Rice and started a diplomatic war
Today, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Israel on an official visit. Before her departure, Ms. Rice offered words of support for Israel, blaming the Lebanese group Hezbollah for the bloodshed. Reaffirming Israel's right to self-defense, the US Secretary of State called for avoiding civilian casualties in Lebanon. However, the Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) ground operation will be expanded. This is supported by the fact that Israel carried out a massive mobilization of its army reserve forces this weekend.In Israel, the US Secretary of State will meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defense Minister Amir Peretz. Rice will also visit the Palestinian territories, where he will meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on the West Bank. She will then fly to Jordan.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry told Vremya Novostey that after these negotiations, the United States will give Israel another week to conduct active military operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon. During this time, the White House will block any (including Russian) diplomatic activity directed against the military operation.
The Israelis prepared a gift for Rice's visit: Defense Minister Amir Peretz announced that after the end of the operation, Israel could support the idea of deploying a multinational force with a strong mandate in southern Lebanon. It is desirable that the peacekeeping contingent consist of representatives of NATO member countries. The issue of creating a buffer zone in the area of the Lebanese-Israeli border is the main one in today's negotiations between Condoleezza Rice and the Israeli leadership.
Since 1978, the UN temporary force (UNIFIL) has been stationed on the Lebanese-Israeli border; this is almost 2 thousand military personnel. A VN source in the Israeli Foreign Ministry said that UNIFIL’s problem is that these forces are not armed and cannot defend themselves against Hezbollah, and therefore, on the contrary, they cooperate with militants.
In addition to the war on two fronts in Lebanon and the Palestinian Gaza Strip, Israel has entered into another battle, at the diplomatic level. The foreign ministers of France and Germany and the Minister for Middle Eastern Affairs at the British Foreign Office arrived in Israel. “Our task is to get the mediators to create an international coalition that will ultimatively demand from Lebanon the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1559, which speaks of the need to disarm Hezbollah, and also demands that the Lebanese army take control of the entire territory of Lebanon,” he said "VN" is one of the Israeli diplomats.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy even had to survive a rocket attack. While he was in Haifa, an alarm siren sounded. The minister, together with the mayor of Haifa, had to go down to the bomb shelter. Immediately after this, the head of the French Foreign Ministry hastily left the city. As a result of that shelling, two people were killed and 17 were injured.
Yesterday evening, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Saltanov also arrived in Israel. The head of the press service of the Russian Embassy in Israel, Anatoly Yurkov, told VN that Saltanov has scheduled meetings with Tzipi Livni and Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres. A meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is possible. Russia has already called for a meeting of “all those countries and parties that can really help overcome the crisis.” “The optimal thing, apparently, would be to gather in Beirut as soon as possible, for example, at the beginning of the week,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It is unlikely, however, that this bold proposal will be accepted (Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem actually suggested gathering in the south of Lebanon). International mediators are likely to meet this Wednesday in Rome, where Condoleezza Rice will also arrive.
So far, it has not been possible to stop the war. Over 12 days, 37 Israelis were killed: 20 military personnel and 17 civilians. Lebanese casualties number in the hundreds, with more than 350 people killed.
In an attempt to stop rocket attacks on northern Israel, the IDF sent ground troops into southern Lebanon, establishing control over the village of Maroun al-Ras, a kilometer from the border. The Israelis can reach the Hezbollah stronghold of Bint Jabl, which is 5 km from the border. But moving forward is dangerous. Yesterday Damascus announced its readiness to enter into conflict. "If Israel invades Lebanon by land and is close to our borders, Syria will not sit quietly, it will take part in the conflict," Syrian Information Minister Muhsin Bilal said yesterday. Syrian troops have been put on high alert.
“Our Air Force has not yet destroyed all Hezbollah missile launchers; they are well camouflaged. Militants can hide these installations in garages or underground tunnels and caves. The Air Force is not able to detect such objects. To neutralize the launchers and destroy all Hezbollah ammunition , a ground operation is underway,” the Israeli military explained to VN.