Annan Calls for Immediate Halt to Israel-Hezbollah Conflict

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan today called for "an immediate cessation of hostilities" between Israel and the militant Lebanese group Hezbollah and outlined a package of new proposals aimed at ensuring a "lasting cease-fire."

In a speech to the U.N. Security Council, Annan sharply criticized both sides in the conflict, said an existing U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon can no longer operate and urged the council to implement his proposals simultaneously.

"What is most urgently needed is an immediate cessation of hostilities" to prevent further death and suffering, allow humanitarian access and give diplomacy a chance work out a lasting solution, Annan said.

"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.

The U.N. chief acknowledged, however, that "there are serious obstacles to reaching a cease-fire or even to diminishing the violence quickly."

Annan's proposals, developed by a team of three U.N. envoys who returned from the region last night, call for the transfer to Lebanese authorities under Red Cross auspices of two Israeli soldiers who were captured by Hezbollah July 12 in a cross-border raid into Israel. Among other elements, the package also calls for an expanded international peacekeeping force, the disarming of Hezbollah in accordance with a 2004 Security Council resolution, Lebanese recognition of a U.N.-demarcated border with Israel pending final agreement on boundaries and steps to provide international reconstruction aid to Lebanon.

The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, John R. Bolton, reacted skeptically to the proposals, saying the United States wants a cessation of hostilities to be part of a "comprehensive change in the region" and does not see how a cease-fire agreement can be reached "with a group of terrorists."

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Dan Gillerman, was openly dismissive and said he was "disturbed" that Annan did not mention terrorism or the roles of Iran and Syria in the crisis.

"The first thing that must be addressed is cessation of terror, before we even talk about cessation of hostilities," Gillerman said. In a reference to Hezbollah, he said Israel would continue to take military action "to make sure that this cancerous growth in the heart of Lebanon is excised."

In addition to causing hundreds of casualties, the conflict has displaced or besieged up to 500,000 people, a figure that could double, Annan said. More than 140,000 people have crossed into Syria to escape the Israeli bombardment of Lebanon, he said. Meanwhile, the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, a 2,000-member peacekeeping unit known as UNIFIL that was first deployed in 1978, is unable to provide any help, Annan said. He said the Security Council needs to decide what to do about UNIFIL, whose mandate expires July 31 and which is currently "not tenable."

Annan strongly denounced Hezbollah's July 12 raid as having been "the trigger of this crisis," but he said it was clear the Lebanese government "had no advanced knowledge of this attack." He said the actions of the radical Shiite Muslim militant group serve neither Palestinian nor Lebanese interests. "On the contrary, they hold an entire nation hostage [and] set back prospects for negotiation of a comprehensive Middle East peace," Annan said.

While repeating his condemnation of Hezbolah's attacks and acknowledging Israel's right to defend itself, Annan also described the Israeli response as excessive and counterproductive.

Despite Israel's assertions that it has no quarrel with the Lebanese government or people, Annan said, its actions have killed and injured Lebanese civilians and military personnel and caused heavy damage to infrastructure. Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said yesterday that at least 300 Lebanese have been killed and 1,000 injured in the Israeli attacks.

"While Hezbollah's actions are deplorable and . . . Israel has a right to defend itself, the excessive use of force is to be condemned," Annan said. He quoted Siniora as saying the Israeli offensive has torn his country to shreds and jeopardized the survival of his U.S.-backed government.

"Whatever damage Israel's operations may be doing to Hezbollah's military capabilities, they are doing little or nothing to decrease popular support for Hezbollah in Lebanon or the region, but are doing a great deal to weaken the government of Lebanon," Annan said. "In short, the very government which Israel wants to extend its control throughout the territory has itself become a hostage to the crisis. It's less able than ever to deploy its forces in the areas necessary to control Hezbollah, and is appealing to the international community for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire."

Annan also said he was "gravely concerned" about an Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip, and he called for "an immediate cessation of indiscriminate and disproportionate violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," as well as for the reopening of closed Gaza crossing points.

Referring to Hezbollah, Bolton told reporters after Annan's speech that "no one has explained how you conduct a cease-fire with a group of terrorists."

Asked about Annan's proposal that Hezbollah deliver the two captured Israeli soldiers to the Lebanese government under the supervision of the International Committee of the Red Cross as part of a process to return them to Israel, Bolton said this was "certainly one possible way to proceed." But he expressed doubts when asked if such a transfer would be "an acceptable precondition for a cease-fire." He said a cessation of hostilities must be "part of a comprehensive solution that lays a real foundation for peace," rather than an end in itself, which he suggested could result in a return to "business as usual."