Peretz: IDF will expand ground offensive
Sheera Claire Frenkel, Yaakov Katz and ap, THE JERUSALEM POST Jul. 30, 2006

Israel must not agree to an immediate cease-fire, but rather expand and strengthen its attacks on Hizbullah, Defense Minister Amir Peretz told an emergency session of the Knesset on Monday.

"We must not agree to a ceasefire that would be implemented immediately," Peretz said at the start of the heated session.

Peretz's speech was frequently interrupted by Arab MKs, many of whom called the Defense Minister a "child killer" and "scoundrel." Three Arab MKs were eventually ejected from the session, as Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik said she was giving them the "gift" of an ejection from the Knesset.

Aside from the Arab Party members, however, Peretz's speech was widely echoed by MKs across the spectrum including Opposition Leader Binyamin Netanyahu who added that Hizbullah posed a strategic threat, and therefore required a strategic victory.

"The journey of war is like any other journey. It starts easily but midway there's a difficult junction where we must decide whether we continue to climb the mountain or stop," said Netanyahu. "I call on the government: Don't stop midway. Complete the job."

Netanyahu began his speech by thanking the IDF for their work in the name "of all the MKs" but was quickly forced to reword his statement to "in the name of most of the MKs," as Arab MKs frequently interrupted his speech.
Most of the interruptions occurred when Peretz discussed the incident Sunday in the Lebanese village of Kana which killed more than 60 civilians.

"There was no and there will be no Israeli commander who will issue an order to hurt uninvolved civilians," said Peretz.

Netanyahu recounted that during World War II, Britain's Royal Air Force intended to bomb the Gestapo headquarters in Copenhagen, but missed and hit a children's hospital nearby, killing 83 Danish children.

"This is a tragedy of war, but it happens," said Netanyahu. "Unlike the other side, which rejoices when our children are killed, we are truly sorry when it happens, and we really and truly try to reduce casualties on the other side."

Also on Monday, various ministers announced aid programs that they were developing for residents of the north. Minister of Education Yuli Tamir announced that she had begun work on a student aid fund for residents of the North. In addition, the Finance Ministry announced that it had initiated a program to compensate the Tourism and Agriculture sectors north of the country.

Justice Minister Haim Ramon said that despite the decision to suspend the air campaign, the war in Lebanon has not ended. "If the war ends today, it would be a victory for Hizbullah and global terrorism and would have far reaching consequences," he told Army Radio.

"I'm convinced that we won't finish this war until it's clear that Hizbullah has no more abilities to attack Israel from south Lebanon. This is what we are striving for," he said.

Despite the suspension, IAF jets reportedly carried out two raids at approximately 1:30 a.m. near the village of Yanta, about five kilometers (three miles) from the Syrian border.

The IDF confirmed the earlier highway attack that came before the halt in aerial attacks. The cessation went into effect at 2 a.m. on Monday morning.

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 learned that attacks were being prepared against them.

But the officials left open the possibility that Israel might hit targets to stop imminent attacks on Israel, and that the suspension could end sooner if the military completed its inquiry into the Kafr Kana tragedy in less than 48 hours.

Ereli also said Israel would allow a 24-hour period where all residents of southern Lebanon who wanted to flee northward would be able to do so, in coordination with the UN.

GOOD now lets see what these words become on the ground in Lebanon. The war should have always been a ground war supported by air power not the other way around like Israel has been doing.