Israel dismisses possibility of imminent ceasefire
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.”
Olmert said. He said Hezbollah has suffered a “heavy blow” in the fighting. Israeli troops and airstrikes have inflicted serious damage to Hezbollah’s capacity to launch rockets into Israel, and its supply routes from Syria have been hampered, he 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.
CNN
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