Israeli army chief admits failures in Lebanon war

Israel failed to achieve all its objectives in its summer war against Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon, the Israeli army chief admitted today, but he rejected calls to resign as a result.

Summing up internal army inquiries into the war, which ended inconclusively in a ceasefire after 34 days of fighting, the army chief of staff, Lieutenant General Dan Halutz, said Israeli forces caused considerable damage to Hezbollah and killed “hundreds of terrorists”.