Special Report: New clash between Israeli, Lebanese
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Smoke rises from the Jiyeh power station in southern Beirut
as Israeli airstrikes on Lebanon entered its fifth day on Sunday and
more than 100 Lebanese people, mostly civilians, have been
killed. The Arab satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera reported on Sunday
that Israeli warplanes struk the Jiyeh power station in southern Beirut
and the plant was in flames in the early hours of the morning on July 16,
2006.(Xinhua/AFP Photo) |
JERUSALEM, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Foreign
Minister Tzipi Livni said on Sunday that Israel agreed to a statement issued by
the Group of Eight industrialized nations which blamed "extremists" for the
escalating violence in Lebanon.
"Israel concurs with the position of the
international community, which places responsibility for the conflict on
extremist elements," Livni said in a statement cited by local newspaper
Ha'aretz.
"(Israel) sees the path to a solution through the
release of the abducted soldiers, a cessation of rocket fire on Israel and a
full implementation of UN Resolution 1559," she added. The resolution, adopted
in September 2004, demands the disarmament of all militia in Lebanon. The Shiite
Hizbollah is the only armed militant group in Lebanon.
"Israel will cooperate with international parties to
turn these principles into concrete diplomatic action," Livni said.
Earlier in the day, leaders of the G8 countries
issued a statement in St. Petersburg, Russia, which calls for the release of two
Israeli soldiers seized by Hizbollah militia, an end to Hizbollah rocket attacks
against Israel while blaming "extremists" for the escalating violence.
The leaders, meanwhile, also urged Israel to exercise
restraint. Israel has started a massive assault in Lebanon after Hizbollah
militia snatched the two Israeli soldiers during cross-border clashes on
Wednesday.
Lebanon has effectively been under an Israeli air,
ground and sea blockade since then.
Over 100 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have been
killed and hundreds more wounded in the five-day-old Israeli offensive, while 24
Israelis including 12 civilians have been killed and scores of others wounded in
the violence with Hizbollah. Enditem
Related: G8 urges
halt to violence in Middle East, restraint from Israel
(From L to R) Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, German
Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, French
President Jacques Chirac, Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President
George W. Bush, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Canadian Prime
Minister Stephen Harper, Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen and
European Union Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso pose for a group
photo at Constantine Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, July 16,
2006.(Xinhua Photo) |
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia, July 16 (Xinhua) -- Leaders
meeting at the summit of Group of Eight (G8) world powers on Sunday called for
an end to the spiraling violence in the Middle East and urged Israel to exercise
restraint in self-defense amid a crisis that has left dozens dead.
The latest upsurge of violence in the Middle East was
a last-minute addition to the agenda of the summit as Israel waged massive air
raids and imposed sea blockade on Lebanon in response to rockets attacks by
Hezbollah militants who kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others
on Wednesday.
A statement issued by the G8 leaders expressed their
"deepening concern" about the situation in the Middle East.
The statement described Hamas elements launching
rocket attacks against Israel and Hezbollah militants as "extremists," saying
they "must immediately halt their attacks." Full story>>
