MIDDLE EAST: U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice started talks in Israel to seek a deal on an international force to end fighting in Lebanon

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Israel on Saturday (July 29) and travelled from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem where he met Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at his official residency. Rice is seeking a deal on an international force to end fighting in Lebanon but Hizbollah charged her trip would only serve Israeli interests. Israel rejected as unnecessary a United Nations plea for a three-day truce to aid civilians trapped by fighting. In the latest fighting, an Israeli air strike killed a woman and six children in a house in the southern village of Nmeiriya, medics said. Meanwhile, Israel's forces pulled out of the Hizbollah stronghold of Bint Jbeil, just across the border. At least 469 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Lebanon in the conflict, and 51 Israelis have died. Rice welcomed an agreement on Thursday by Hizbollah cabinet members in Lebanon to seek an immediate ceasefire that would include the disarming of militias, and praised Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora for persuading Hizbollah to agree. Lebanon's Siniora, whom Rice will meet during her stay in the Middle East, argues that the main issues to be resolved include Israel's occupation of the disputed Shebaa Farms area, claimed by Lebanon, and its detention of Lebanese prisoners. In a softening of Israel's position that could help Rice steer the sides towards a ceasefire, a senior Foreign Ministry official said Israel would not demand the immediate disarming of Hizbollah, although it still wants it disarmed eventually. The official said Israel would demand that the proposed international peacekeeping force in south Lebanon keep Hizbollah away from the Israeli border and prevent the group from replenishing its stockpile of rockets from Syria and Iran. Hizbollah would almost certainly have rejected a peacekeeping force whose mandate calls for its disarmament. U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has called a meeting in New York on Monday to get troop contributions for an international force, which could be 15,000-20,000 strong, even though its mandate has yet to be set by the Security Council. The guerrilla group launched long-range missiles deeper into Israel on Friday, fulfilling Nasrallah's pledge to hit targets further south than Israel's third largest city Haifa. "The Israelis are ready to halt the aggression because they are afraid of the unknown," Nasrallah said. "The one pushing for the continuation of the aggression is the U.S. administration." Hizbollah fired more than 90 rockets from southern Lebanon into northern Israel on Saturday, lightly wounding about a dozen people, the army and medics said. They have launched more than 1,500 rockets into Israel since the conflict started. Rice's visit comes as the United States has faced mounting criticism for not calling for an immediate ceasefire and for giving Israel an apparent green light to continue pounding Lebanese targets, leading to more civilian deaths. U.S. President George W. Bush has blamed Hizbollah and its main allies Syria and Iran for the conflict in Lebanon. Israeli air strikes cut Lebanon's main road to Damascus on Saturday, while Israel said its forces had killed around 70 to 80 Hizbollah guerrillas in fighting in southern Lebanon over the past few days. Hizbollah says only 31 of its fighters have died since the start of the 18-day-old conflict. Israel dismissed a U.N. proposal for a three-day truce to let relief workers reach stricken civilians and deliver emergency aid, saying it was already allowing aid to flow. While Israel has let aid shipments through its blockade of Lebanon, international relief agencies say they have been unable to get Israel to guarantee safe passage to civilians in southern areas hardest hit by Israeli bombing aimed at Hizbollah.

ITN Source | July 30, 2006

Tags:. .wounding. .blamed. .trapped. .meanwhile. .fighters