By Aluf Benn and Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondents, and Agencies-07/08/2006
Lebanon urged the UN Security Council on Sunday to revise a draft resolution aimed at ending the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting to demand that Israel pull its forces out of the country once hostilities end and hand over its positions to UN peacekeepers.
The proposal was one of many suggested amendments to the resolution that was circulated Saturday by the United States and France. The draft made no mention of an Israeli withdrawal.
It calls for "a full cessation of hostilities" based on "the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations."
Security Council experts went over the draft for several hours Sunday and diplomats said there was a widespread feeling that it did not sufficiently take Lebanon`s concerns into account. Qatar, the only Arab member of the council, introduced a host of amendments, including Lebanon`s call for an Israeli withdrawal, and other council members proposed changes as well, the diplomats said.
Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri said Sunday that government rejected the resolution drafted by France and the U.S. as it would allow the Israel Defense Forces to remain on Lebanese soil.
The Security Council was expected to meet Monday to discuss the terms of the resolution.
The draft text for a UN Security Council resolution on ending the crisis in Lebanon, was agreed Saturday by the United States and France.
Israeli sources hail draft
Government sources in Israel had welcomed the U.S.-French draft, despite the fact that Israel has backed down on its demands regarding the issue of international peacekeepers.
Israel has agreed to the draft`s provision that the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) force currently deployed in south Lebanon be replaced by an international force only after Israel and Lebanon reach agreement on the principles of a long-term accord.
The government sources noted that the draft accepts Israel`s basic demand, that the IDF remain in its positions in south Lebanon and prevent Hezbollah militants from returning to the area, until the international force is deployed.
Berri, who has acted as a negotiator for Hezbollah, said the resolution had ignored a seven-point plan presented by the government that calls for a cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the return of all displaced civilians among other things.
"Lebanon and all of Lebanon rejects any resolution that is outside these seven points," Berri told a news conference.
A vote on the resolution is expected on Monday or Tuesday.
Israel had previously opposed UNIFIL supervising a cease-fire. Israel has frequently charged that UNIFIL personnel have turned a blind eye to Hezbollah operations in the south.
Under the draft resolution, UNIFIL would be reinforced with more troops in order to be able to carry out its new mandate. Initially, Israel had opposed the expansion of UNIFIL`s role and asked that it be replaced, arguing that to date its performance was poor and its troops did not prevent terrorist attacks.
The draft U.S.-French resolution calls for a "full cessation of hostilities based upon... the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations". It implicitly gives Israel the right to pursue "defensive" military operations.
Ramon: Draft is good, but we will press the fight
Justice Minister Haim Ramon said Sunday that despite the agreement on the UN draft resolution, Israel will continue to target Hezbollah militants.
Ramon said on Army Radio that the draft resolution was good for Israel, but that it still had military goals to meet.
"Even if it is passed, it is doubtful that Hezbollah will honor the resolution and halt its fire," Ramon said.
"Therefore we have to continue fighting, continue hitting anyone we can hit in Hezbollah, and I assume that as long as that goes on, Israel`s standing, diplomatically and militarily, will improve."
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said last week that Israel "will not accept a force of the UNIFIL type, that was proven not to be effective. The force that will be deployed will have to comprise armies, not pensioners who come to vacation in southern Lebanon, but real soldiers capable of fighting."
Political sources in Jerusalem said Saturday night that Israel received assurances through diplomatic channels that UNIFIL will be bolstered by quality troops from France. The current commander of UNIFIL is a French General, Alain Pelegrini. Currently, UNIFIL has 2,000 troops from France, China, Ghana, India, Ireland, Italy, Poland and Ukraine.
Political sources in Israel said the deployment of a multinational force in a country requires agreements, and the government of Lebanon announced that following the Qana incident last week, it would refuse a new force.
Broadening the UNIFIL mandate is essentially meant to deal with the Lebanese opposition to deploying a new force.
The Lebanese government said it objected to portions of the U.S.-French draft resolution and would demand that some provisions be amended.
"The government has objected to the U.S.-French draft resolution. It has made amendments to some of the provisions and has sent them to Lebanon`s UN representative," an aide to Prime Minister Fuad Siniora said late Saturday.
"We would have liked to see our concerns more reflected in the text," Lebanese Foreign Ministry official Nouhad Mahmoud said at the UN.
"Unfortunately, it lacked, for instance, a call for the withdrawal of Israeli forces which are now in Lebanon. That is a recipe for more confrontation," he said.
Oxfam preparing relief shipment to Lebanon
The aid group Oxfam is preparing its first shipment of relief supplies to victims of the fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah in Lebanon, it said Sunday.
Oxfam plans to fly 18 tons of water distribution, sanitation and hygiene equipment on Monday to Larnaca, Cyprus, and then ship it on to Lebanon, where hundreds of civilians have been killed in a three-week IDF offensive against Hezbollah militants.
The supplies are worth about 100,000 pounds ($190,000), an Oxfam spokesman said.
