Israel wants new force to back Lebanese deployment

By Adam Entous

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel wants a strong international
force to join the 15,000 Lebanese troops that Beirut has
decided to send to the south before it would agree to withdraw
from Lebanese soil, a senior official said on Tuesday.

“It’s a positive first step,” the senior Israeli official
said of Monday’s unanimous decision by the Lebanese government,
which includes two Hizbollah ministers, to deploy troops in
south Lebanon as Israeli forces pull out of the territory.

But the official, who declined to be named, said the
deployment would be “insufficient” for Israel unless the 15,000
Lebanese troops were backed up by a “strong stabilization
force” that has the mandate and ability to keep Hizbollah from
moving back into southern Lebanon.

Western diplomats said the Lebanese government’s decision
to deploy troops in the south could mark a turning point in
negotiations and lead to changes in a draft U.N. Security
Council resolution seeking to end four weeks of fighting
between Israel and Hizbollah.

“It’s better than it was but there is still a big gap
there,” one diplomat said, adding that it was unclear if
Hizbollah would agree to the deployment of an international
force with an enforcement mandate and sufficient firepower.

Lebanon has said it was unhappy with the initial
U.S.-French draft resolution, demanding it include a call for
the immediate withdrawal of Israel’s 10,000 troops from
southern Lebanon.

BOOSTED U.N. FORCE

The Lebanese government said the army was willing to seek
the help of a boosted U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon. But
it did not explicitly say whether Hizbollah would pull out of
border areas.

“The Lebanese army in itself is not capable of obtaining
the goals,” the senior Israel official told Reuters, speaking
on condition of anonymity because negotiations were still under
way.

The official said proposals to expand the existing U.N.
force in south Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, were unacceptable
because that force is seen as weak by Israel.

“The question is whether this (Lebanese) force will be
escorted by UNIFIL, which is an incompetent force, or whether
this Lebanese force is supported by a strong stabilization
force and then Hizbollah is incapable of penetrating back with
arms,” the official said.

The south of the country has been under the virtual control
of Hizbollah guerrillas. They say they will cease fire only
once all Israeli soldiers leave Lebanese land.

Israel wants Hizbollah to be pushed north of the Litani
River, about 20 km (13 miles) from the border, in an effort to
limit rocket attacks into northern Israel.