By NICK WADHAMS
The Associated Press
Thursday, July 20, 2006; 9:25 PM
UNITED NATIONS -- Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Thursday for an immediate halt to the violence between Israel and Lebanon, saying a cease-fire would be the first step toward ending the escalating war.
Israel, backed by the U.S., immediately dismissed calls for a cease-fire and said the military operation _ which was undertaken to free two captured Israeli soldiers but has spread to target all of Hezbollah _ will "take as long as it will take."
"When you operate on a cancerous growth you do not stop in the middle, sew the patient up and tell him keep living with that growth until it kills you," Israel's U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman said. "You make sure it is totally removed."
Annan went before the council shortly after the return of a three-man U.N. team that met with leaders throughout the region. The team, led by Annan's special political adviser, Vijay Nambiar, came back with a list of proposals to quell the conflict.
Annan and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had a private two-hour dinner Thursday night at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, ahead of a planned Rice trip to the Middle East. European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana had been expected to attend the dinner, but he was still in the region.
Washington has been trying to lower expectations for Rice's visit. Officials have said she is not likely to perform Mideast shuttle diplomacy to arrange a cease-fire, and not likely to preside over any grand signing ceremony.
Even the New York leg of her trip was taking place in secrecy. The U.S. Mission to the U.N. refused to tell reporters where or when she would dine with Annan, and demanded that Annan's spokesman tell no one. Members of the media found out from other sources.
In his remarks to the council, Annan criticized both Israel and Hezbollah for their actions since the July 12 abduction of two Israeli soldiers. Annan made clear that his priority was helping the Lebanese people and preventing more civilian casualties.
"Both the deliberate targeting by Hezbollah of Israeli population centers with hundreds of indiscriminate weapons and Israel's disproportionate use of force and collective punishment of the Lebanese people must stop," he said.
Annan acknowledged there were "serious obstacles to reaching a cease-fire."
Nonetheless, he put forward the U.N. team's proposals for a way out. Its elements include:
_ Hezbollah handing the soldiers over to the Lebanese authorities, under the auspices of the International Committee for the Red Cross.
_ The council then deploying an expanded peacekeeping force on the Lebanese side of the U.N.-drawn boundary with Israel known as the Blue Line.
_ Lebanon implementing a Security Council resolution calling for the government to extend its control over the south and disarm Hezbollah
_ The international community establishing a framework for funding humanitarian, development and reconstruction aid for Lebanon.
Annan said the number of civilians affected by the conflict is now at 500,000, but that is likely to increase. He based that estimate on information provided by Nambiar's team and his own contacts.
Lebanese special envoy Nouhad Mahmoud echoed Annan's call for an immediate cease-fire and warned Israel there was no military solution.
"It could take them very, very long and they won't achieve anything, only the destruction of Lebanon, and I think that's what they aim for," he said.
The proposals met sharp resistance from U.S. and Israeli diplomats, whose tough approach appeared to dim any hopes for an immediate end to the violence.
U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said that, while it was time for the Security Council to start considering a response, any talk of a cease-fire was unrealistic.
"I think it's a very fundamental question how a terrorist group agrees to a cease-fire," Bolton said. "How do you hold a terrorist group accountable? Who runs the terrorist group? Who makes the commitments that the terrorist group will abide by a cease-fire? What does a terrorist group think a cease-fire is?"
Since fighting began, the Security Council has taken no action and Lebanon accused the United States on Saturday of blocking even a statement to the press calling for a cease-fire.
Diplomats said Qatar, the representative for Arab nations on the council, was drafting a council statement. It would be followed by a resolution, they said.
___
Associated Press reporter Edith M. Lederer contributed to this story.