Israel admits air war has failed to end the Hizbollah rocket threat [View All]

August 3, 2006 4:39 PM

McClatchy Newspapers

TEL AVIV, Israel - The Israeli military began preparing to reoccupy southern Lebanon on Thursday, and Israeli officials conceded that their three-week bombing campaign has had no significant impact on Hezbollah's ability to fire short-range rockets into northern Israel.

The dispatch of thousands of Israeli soldiers to retake as much as one-fifth of Lebanon - the operation must still be approved by the Israeli Cabinet - would mark a major expansion in Israel's Lebanon campaign and would reverse Israel's withdrawal from Lebanon six years ago after a troubled 18-year occupation.

It also would complicate efforts in the United Nations to arrange a cease-fire and the creation of an international peacekeeping force to police southern Lebanon.

Senior military officials suggest that Israel may have little choice, however. On Thursday, one official admitted that the air war had failed to cripple Hezbollah's ability to fire the short-range Katyusha rockets, which form the bulk of the militant Islamic group's aerial arsenal.

''They are still in full capacity to attack our villages,'' said the official, who briefed a small group of reporters about the military campaign against Hezbollah on the condition of anonymity. ''In order to stop the firing, we need a major ground offensive against the short-range rockets.''


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