Israeli ministers to decide on Lebanon strategy

Israel must unleash massive air strikes against villages in south Lebanon to clear out Hezbollah gunmen, an Israeli cabinet minister said today, as the Israeli government was to decide whether to broaden the military offensive against the Lebanese guerrillas.

The call for greater firepower came as Israel suffered its heaviest casualty toll in the 15-day campaign, with nine soldiers killed and 25 wounded in house-to-house fighting in Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon yesterday.

Israeli army commanders have said troops would seize additional towns and villages in south Lebanon to force out Hezbollah gunmen.

Justice Minister Haim Ramon, who is close to Olmert, said the Israeli air force must bomb villages before ground forces enter, suggesting that this would help prevent Israeli casualties in the future.

Asked by Israel Army Radio whether entire villages should be flattened, he said: “These places are not villages. They are military bases in which Hezbollah people are hiding and from which they are operating.”

Ramon said Israel has given civilians in south Lebanon sufficient warning to leave the area, and that those left behind should be considered Hezbollah sympathisers. “All those now in south Lebanon are terrorists who are related in some way to Hezbollah,” he said.

The cabinet minister said the military should not hold back.

“What we need to activate in south Lebanon is tremendous firepower before ground forces enter,” he said. “Our great advantage against Hezbollah is firepower, not hand-to-hand combat.”

Top army commanders have recommended that the government approve a wider campaign, military and government officials said.

Israeli daily Haaretz said military officials have criticised the government for not ordering a broader ground offensive, which they said would give troops an advantage over Hezbollah.

Several thousand Israeli soldiers are currently fighting against several hundred Hezbollah gunmen. Military commanders also demanded greater air support of the ground troops, Haaretz said.

One of the aims of the ground offensive is to push Hezbollah out of a 1.2-mile-wide strip along the Israeli-Lebanese border to prevent future attacks by the militia. However, Israel’s offensive has failed to stop Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel.

Yesterday, 151 rockets hit Israel, one of the highest daily totals since the start of the fighting. By mid-morning today, 10 rockets had already hit three northern Israeli towns, the military said.

Israel’s offensive has killed 423 people in Lebanon since July 12. It was launched after Hezbollah attacked an Israeli border patrol, killing three soldiers and kidnapping two. Fifty-two Israelis have been killed in the fighting, including 34 soldiers.

The growing Israeli casualty toll was accompanied by criticism of the military operation. Some politicians warned that Israel could get dragged into a long offensive in Lebanon. Israel withdrew from south Lebanon in 2000 after an 18-year occupation of the area.