Israel declared that no cease-fire can be expected in the coming days

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday there would be no cease-fire in the coming days to stop fighting between his nation’s forces and Lebanon-based Hezbollah militia.
“Quite a few days of fighting are still before us,” Olmert told a conference of local officials.

“We will stop the war when the (rocket) threat is removed…, our captive soldiers return home in peace, and you are able to live in safety and security.”

“We are paying a very precious and almost unbearable price in terms of loss of life, major damage to public and private property and tranquility — and we’re not prepared to give up our right to live perfectly ordinary lives, which are not subject to terrorism and hate and fanaticism,” Olmert said.

Other developments on Monday pointed to a lengthening of the 20-day-old conflict.

The United Nations Security Council postponed indefinitely a meeting on setting up a new peacekeeping force for the area.

President Bush said Monday there could be no cease-fire until Hezbollah was reined in and international borders respected, reiterating the U.S. stance on the conflict.

Meanwhile Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television station claimed Hezbollah missiles hit an Israeli warship. An Israeli security source said no Israeli vessel had been hit, according to Reuters news service.

Reuters also reported that Hezbollah said the attack was retaliation for Sunday’s bombing of Qana, Lebanon, that killed at least 54 civilians.

The airstrike — which killed many children and sparked international outrage — threatened to derail work toward a resolution in the 20-day conflict between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas.

U.N. talks on hold

At the United Nations, a Security Council meeting on planning for a new peacekeeping force had been delayed “until there is more political clarity” on the path ahead in the Middle East conflict, Reuters news agency reported

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan had called the meeting last Friday, but the world’s major powers have said no force can be put in place until fighting stops and Israel, Lebanon and Hezbollah agree to its deployment, Reuters reported.

And Israel’s defense minister told the nation’s parliament it would increase military pressure against Hezbollah in Lebanon.

Despite an agreement to stop airstrikes for 48 hours, Israel dropped bombs in southern Lebanon on Monday.

In its agreement, Israel had reserved the right to hit targets that it considered an immediate threat.

But the Israeli army said Monday’s strikes near the Lebanese village of Tayba were meant to protect ground forces operating in the border area and were not aimed at specific targets.

The Israeli military expressed regret that one of the strikes hit a Lebanese military vehicle outside Tyre, Lebanon.

The Israel Defense Forces said it was unclear how many people were killed. Earlier, a senior Lebanese Interior Ministry official said the airstrike killed an aide to a Lebanese general and wounded three soldiers. The general survived the attack, the official said.

The IDF said it thought the car was carrying a senior Hezbollah militant involved in directing rocket fire on Israel.

Israeli troops enter village

Also Monday, Israeli troops entered the southern Lebanese village of Aita Al-Shaab, according to the IDF.

“There is an operation going on over there — this is the first time troops have been in this area,” an Israeli army spokesman told Reuters.

Hezbollah said its guerrillas were engaging the advancing force in fierce fighting, Reuters reported.

Earlier Monday, the IDF said its aircraft fired on open fields surrounding its ground forces in the Tayba area. Three Israeli soldiers in the area suffered minor injuries after Hezbollah fighters hit their tank with a missile, an Israeli army spokesman said.

Two Hezbollah rockets hit in an open area of the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona on Monday, but no casualties were reported, Israeli police officials said. The firings marked the first Hezbollah rocket attacks into northern Israel from southern Lebanon in a day. Police officials said 134 Hezbollah rockets slammed into the Jewish state on Sunday, injuring 48.

The conflict began July 12 when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.

Bush, speaking in Florida on Monday, said Israel had the right to defend itself and called on Iran and Syria to stop aiding Hezbollah.

“Iran must end its financial support and supply of weapons to terrorist groups like Hezbollah,” Bush said. “Syria must end its support for terror and respect the sovereignty of Lebanon.”

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, speaking earlier Monday, said she believed a resolution to the crisis could be reached this week.

In addition to its pledge to halt aerial bombardments, Israel said it would arrange with U.N. officials to allow 24 hours of safe passage for residents to flee southern Lebanon, an Israeli official said.

The United Nations on Monday sent relief supplies to Qana and Tyre, The Associated Press reported. U.N. officials told the AP that its convoys elsewhere in Lebanon are suspended because of the fragile security situation.