Even as Israeli forces and Hezbollah traded bloody blows in southern Lebanon, the United Nations approved a U.S. and French proposal that had raised hopes that diplomatic efforts will end the strife.
The U.N. Security Council approved a resolution calling for an end to the fighting and increasing the size of a United Nations peacekeeping force from 2,000 to 15,000 troops to police a buffer zone, free of armed personnel and weapons except those of the Lebanese army and U.N. forces.
“You never get a deal like this with everybody getting everything that they want,’ Britain’s foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, said. “The question is, has everybody got enough for this to stick and for it to be enforceable? Nobody wants to go back to where we were before this last episode started.”
Israeli officials said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert will recommend accepting the plan when the cabinet meets Sunday – assuming that it’s still a viable option. There is every reason for Hezbollah to cooperate with the international entreaties – its miscalculation in launching the aggression has set back Lebanon years.
More than 800 Lebanese have been killed and more than 3,200 injured in the fighting, which also has claimed more than 100 Israeli lives and forced thousands to flee their homes. Hostilities erupted July 12 after Syrian- and Iranian-sponsored Hezbollah crossed into Israel and kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed several others. Israel retaliated with bombing raids and sent troops into southern Lebanon. Hezbollah answered with barrages of rockets fired into Israeli territory.
Israel’s stalled incursion led to the sacking of the commanding general and to heated debate among the cabinet, which likely is another factor in delay of the planned offensive. It finally got the green light on Friday just as diplomacy was being revived.
Earlier, the Lebanese government had insisted that Israelis withdraw and said it would send 15,000 of its own troops to buffer Israel from Hezbollah. Its position was echoed by the Arab League.
Under the U.S.-French plan, Israeli troops would withdraw once Lebanese forces gain control over certain parts of south Lebanon. The Israelis would be foolish to withdraw without assurances that the peacekeeping force can keep Hezbollah at bay.
Neither side wants to blink, but the toll is high, and the dangers are mounting up. An international force will be able to do what the Lebanese government cannot – still Hezbollah’s threat to Lebanon’s neighbor.
