Israel announces conditional air ceasefire

Israel tonight bowed to international pressure and agreed to a 48-hour suspension of aerial activity over southern Lebanon after an airstrike killed more than 50 civilians – half of them children.

The suspension of over-flights was announced by US State Department spokesman Adam Ereli.

He said Israel has reserved the right to attack targets if it learns that attacks are being prepared against them.

“The US welcomes this decision and hopes that it will help relieve the suffering of the children and families of southern Lebanon,” Ereli told reporters travelling with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who had been on a week-long mission to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

An Israeli government official confirmed that prime minister Ehud Olmert agreed to the 48-hour halt in air strikes on Lebanon.

A US State Department official said Rice had been working on such an agreement for some time before the attack on Qana.

Ereli said Israel would co-ordinate with the United Nations to allow a 24-hour period of safe passage for all residents of south Lebanon who wanted to leave the region.

“We expect that Israel will implement these decisions so as to significantly speed and improve the flow of humanitarian aid,” he added.