Leaders divided on need for immediate ceasefire

Top US and European officials today called for an end to the violence in Israel and Lebanon and the establishment of an international force to keep the peace – but they did not unanimously call for an immediate ceasefire or provide details on the proposed force.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who had been under pressure to lean on Israel to end its two-week-old offensive, maintained that any ceasefire must be “sustainable” and that there could be “no return to the status quo ante.”