Israeli Troops Surround Hezbollah Stronghold
Posted July 25, 2006 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Israeli troops surrounded the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbail, a Hezbollah stronghold, Tuesday as the two-week old conflict showed no sign of letting up.
Seven civilians were killed when an Israeli missile strike destroyed a house, while the guerrilla fighters’ rocket attacks continued to hit northern Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is in Jerusalem speaking with both Israeli and Lebanese leaders in the hopes of reaching a ceasefire. Her plan would also see the deployment of international troops in southern Lebanon in order to prevent attacks on Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said his government wouldn’t stop fighting Hezbollah as long as it continued to target Israeli citizens.
“We will … stop them. We will not hesitate to take severe measures against those who are aiming thousands of rockets and missiles against innocent civilians,” he said before meeting with Rice.
Israeli military spokespersons said their troops would only advance as far as southern Lebanon in order to destroy Hezbollah infrastructure “within reach.” The forces also appeared to be easing their attacks on populated areas and roads, which in the past couple of weeks have killed hundreds of citizens and displaced nearly a million.
The current toll stands around 42 in Israel and 425 in Lebanon. And there’s no real end in sight.
According to the country’s defence minister Israel plans to maintain a security zone in southern Lebanon until an international force arrives there.
“There will be a security zone, which will be under the control of our forces if there is not a multinational force,” Amir Peretz said.
Rice’s plan was met with disapproval from Lebanese authorities, who said a ceasefire should be imposed right now and other issues could be resolved later.
Israel “is taking Lebanon backward 50 years and the result will be Lebanon’s destruction,” Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora reportedly told Rice.
Meanwhile, fifteen Canadian soldiers have apparently rescued 12 stranded Canadian citizens from the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon.
They boarded life rafts and were ferried along with several hundred other evacuees to an EU-chartered ship anchored off shore.
The ship is due to return to Tyre Wednesday to pick up more Canadians.
