Israel began an expanded ground offensive in southern Lebanon on Friday after expressing dissatisfaction over an emerging cease-fire deal, government officials said. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his defense minister, Amir Peretz, made the decision to expand the offensive after meeting for four hours Friday. Peretz instructed the military to launch the offensive, officials said. Olmert's spokesman, Asaf Shariv, told The Associated Press that the expanded incursion had already begun. An emerging cease-fire deal being worked out by the U.N. Security Council fails to meet Israel's basic requirements, such as stationing robust international combat troops in southern Lebanon once Israel withdraws, Shariv said. "Yesterday we were very optimistic, but they (the Security Council) took the wrong turn," Shariv said.
The government has decided to implement a Cabinet decision on Wednesday granting the army permission to carry out a massive ground offensive "to deal with the Hezbollah positions in south Lebanon, from which barrages of missiles continue to be launched against the Israeli civilian population," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev. Regev added, however, that Israel was still open to a negotiated solution as the U.N. Security Council prepared to vote on a proposed cease-fire deal. "Our action does not exclude a diplomatic option. On the contrary, we are following developments in New York closely. But so far diplomacy has not produced concrete results and it is incumbent upon the government to defend its citizens," Regev said. He said he could not comment on the time frame or scale of the offensive. |