Israel PM vows to pursue Hizbollah war

Palestinian demonstrators support Hizbollah during a visit by Condoleezza Rice. Picture / Reuters

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed overnight to allow aid airlifts to Lebanon but said he was determined to pursue an offensive against Hizbollah.

After talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Olmert said both agreed resolving the crisis must include disarming Hizbollah, its removal from Israel's border and deploying an international force to ensure it cannot menace the Jewish state.

Israel believes a force of up to 20,000 peacekeepers is needed to take over southern Lebanon and that a force could be deployed within two weeks of approval by Western powers, senior Israeli officials have said.

The estimate of 20,000 would be nearly double the size of the multilateral force being discussed by European powers.

"We're looking for a very large force. Between 10,000 and 20,000," a senior Israeli official said. "The force can be deployed in stages. It can be done in one to two weeks."

Rice, who spelled out the truce terms to Lebanese leaders during a visit to bomb-battered Beirut on Monday, said it was time for a "new Middle East".

"A durable solution will be one that strengthens the forces of peace and democracy in the region," Rice said alongside Olmert in remarks before they held talks.

"It is time for a new Middle East. It is time to say to those who do not want a new Middle East that we will prevail."

Amid mounting international concern at civilian casualties and the plight of people displaced in Lebanon, Olmert said Israel would allow aid airlifts to reach the country.

Israel imposed an air and sea blockade and bombed Beirut airport runways after Hizbollah killed eight of its soldiers and abducted two others in a July 12 cross-border raid.

A total of 410 people in Lebanon and 42 Israelis have been killed in the conflict.

Lebanon says Israel's bombardment has displaced a fifth of its population. Most of its dead are civilians.

"The prime minister said Israel will allow, with advance coordination, for planes carrying humanitarian aid to land at Beirut airport," Olmert's office said.

But Olmert said Israel had to press on with its offensive as Hizbollah rockets continue to rain on northern Israel. "We are using the basic elementary right of self-defence," Olmert said.

On the battlefield, Israeli troops and tanks fought fierce clashes with Hizbollah inside the guerrilla stronghold of Bint Jbeil in southern Lebanon. The army said while Israeli forces had entered, they had yet to take complete control of the town.

An Israeli air strike killed a family of seven, Lebanese security sources said. Another killed four civilians near the southern port city of Tyre, medics said.

Hizbollah rockets killed a 15-year-old girl in an Arab Israeli town in the Galilee, medics said. Missiles also wounded at least seven people in the northern Israeli city of Haifa.

Rice arrived in Jerusalem after a trip to Beirut and later held talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

She will attend a conference in Rome on Wednesday on the Lebanon crisis, before heading to Malaysia for talks with Asian leaders and then a possible return to the Middle East.

Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said the main objective of the Rome meeting would be to secure a cease-fire, despite Washington and Israel's belief it can only lay the groundwork.

The heaviest ground battles have been taking place around Bint Jbeil, 4 km (2.5 miles) inside Lebanon. Israeli forces seized another stronghold closer to the border, the village of Maroun al-Ras, last week.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah said Israel's military offensives on Lebanon and the Palestinians could ignite war in the Middle East.

One of the key sticking points for a cease-fire in Lebanon is the sequence of events for a deal.

Many Lebanese politicians want a cease-fire first. Israel wants Hizbollah to leave the border area immediately and free the captured soldiers without conditions.

But ground raids and air strikes have failed to stop Hizbollah firing around 1200 rockets into northern Israeli towns and cities, where they have killed 18 civilians so far.

- REUTERS