Ha'aretz: "Senior source: Despite IAF curbs, there is no ceasefire."

The government source said that the IAF had been told to continue acting against "targets that present a threat to Israel and its troops, including rocket launchers, vehicles transporting ammunition, Hezbollah fighters, weapons stores and Hezbollah assets."

The term "Hezbollah assets" refers to people identified with the organization, including those who do not pose an immediate threat. "If they are identified with Hassan Nasrallah, we will hit them," the source said.

Regarding the instructions to the IAF, the source said, however, "there will be no attacks on buildings that had not been identified" as part of efforts to strike Israel, and held, for example, ammunition, Hezbollah fighters or their commanders."

This is interesting too:

The suspension of IAF activity was first suggested in a meeting Sunday between Rice and Olmert, during which the secretary of state asked that Israel open a 24-hour "corridor" for residents to leave south Lebanon, effective immediately.

After hearing Olmert's explanations for the attack at Qana, Rice asked the prime minister what steps would be taken to prevent such an incident from happening again, in order to avoid having an impact on the war effort. Rice said that when such incidents occurred in Iraq, the operations were suspended until the completion of an investigation.

Following the meeting, the bureaus of the prime minister and Defense Minister Amir Peretz decided to limit the aerial activity until the completion of the investigation. The announcement was supposed to have been made by the Israeli military, but due to a misunderstanding, it actually came from the American side.

Wonder what that misunderstanding was.

Meantime, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz is calling to expand the war, the AP reports, and the Israeli cabinet is meeting today about expanding ground operations:

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz made clear in a speech to parliament that Israel would not agree to an immediate cease-fire and had plans to expand its operation in Lebanon.

“It’s forbidden to agree to an immediate cease-fire,” Peretz told parliament, as several Arab legislators heckled him and demanded an immediate halt to the offensive. “Israel will expand and strengthen its activities against the Hezbollah.” ...

Israel’s top ministers were to discuss expanding the army’s ground operation at a meeting later Monday, while thousands of reserve soldiers trained for the possibility that they will be sent into Lebanon to participate in the battle, now 20 days old.

It was unclear whether the senior ministers would approve a broader ground assault at their meeting, defense officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media. ...

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Rice over the weekend that Israel would need 10 to 14 more days to finish its offensive, and Justice Minister Haim Ramon told Army Radio on Monday that he did not think the fighting was over yet.

“I’m convinced that we won’t finish this war until it’s clear that Hezbollah has no more abilities to attack Israel from south Lebanon. This is what we are striving for,” Ramon said.

Meantime, thousands of Lebanese civilians are taking advantage of reduced air operations to flee south Lebanon and aid convoys are getting in.

Via Ha'aretz, Human Rights Watch determines that the IAF bombing in Lebanon is 'indiscriminate.' From HRW letter: "Even if the IDF claims of Hezbollah rocket fire from the Qana area are correct, Israel remains under a strict obligation to direct attacks at only military objectives, and to take all feasible precautions to avoid the incidental loss of civilian life. To date, Israel has not presented any evidence to show that Hezbollah was present in or around the building that was struck at the time of the attack." ... "Human Rights Watch has also documented Hezbollah’s deliberate and indiscriminate firing of Katyusha rockets into civilian areas in Israel, resulting in 18 civilian deaths to date. These serious violations of international humanitarian law are also war crimes."

Meantime, Hezbollah does not appear to be honoring any temporary truce on its end.

Posted by Laura at July 31, 2006 07:58 AM