Israel refuses to end blockade
Lebanon would be the last Arab state to have peace with Israel, an official said.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- Israel rejected demands Wednesday from visiting U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan that it immediately lift its sea and air blockade of Lebanon and withdraw its forces once 5,000 international troops are deployed.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert indicated Israel would only allow free movement after the full implementation of a U.N.-brokered cease-fire that ended 34 days of fighting between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah guerrillas that killed 854 Lebanese and 159 Israelis.
Under the truce, 15,000 Lebanese soldiers and 15,000 international troops are to be deployed in southern Lebanon and to enforce an arms embargo on Hezbollah.
Later in a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Annan said Israel also must lift its closure of the Gaza Strip and open crossing points there. He called for an end to the bloodshed that has led to the deaths of more than 200 Palestinians since the end of June.
"This must stop immediately," Annan said. "I have made my feelings known in talks with Israeli officials.
"Beyond preserving life, we have to sustain life. The closure of Gaza must be lifted. The crossing points must be opened, not just to allow goods [in], but to allow Palestinian exports out as well."
But fighting intensified between Gaza militants and Israeli troops searching for smuggling tunnels and explosives. At least eight Palestinians were killed in airstrikes and gunbattles near Gaza City.
Future relations
Olmert, Annan and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni all expressed hope Wednesday that the cease-fire deal in southern Lebanon would evolve into a full-fledged peace accord, which Israeli leaders have long hoped to reach with Lebanon. But Lebanon's premier rebuffed the idea, saying his country would be the last Arab nation to make peace with the Jewish state.
The vastly different visions of future relations between the two nations reflect their conflicting priorities. Israel wants to prevent future attacks from its northern neighbor, while Lebanon is focused on rebuilding from the recent fighting and trying to maintain peace between its fractious religious groups, some of whom are sworn enemies of Israel.
The cease-fire deal could be "a cornerstone to build a new reality between Israel and Lebanon," Olmert said at a news conference with Annan.
Implementation of the truce "gives us a foundation to move forward and settle the differences between Israel and Lebanon once and for all, to establish a durable peace," Annan said after meeting with Livni.
But Lebanon has hesitated in reaching a separate agreement with Israel as long as Israel's conflicts with the Palestinians and Syria are not resolved.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora quashed hopes of a peace deal any time soon, saying Lebanon "will be the last Arab country that could sign a peace agreement with Israel."
"Let it be clear, we are not seeking any agreement until there is just and comprehensive peace based on the Arab initiative," he said in Beirut.
The Arab initiative calls for an Israeli withdrawal from all territories captured in the 1967 Middle East war and the establishment of a Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital -- demands Israel rejects.
A Hezbollah legislator also ruled out talks toward a wider peace deal.
"The Lebanese reject negotiations with the Zionist enemy. They consider these negotiations unnecessary, worthless and have no basis or place," Hussein Haj Hassan told Al-Jazeera television.
Reason for fighting
The fighting between Israel and Hezbollah began July 12 when Hezbollah guerrillas crossed into Israel and attacked an army patrol, killing three soldiers and capturing two others. Israel has rejected calls for a prisoner swap to secure their freedom.
Both Annan and Olmert demanded the soldiers' unconditional release, but Mohammed Fneish, a Hezbollah minister in the Lebanese Cabinet, said that would not happen.
A third Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit, was seized by Hamas militants in late June and is being held in the Gaza Strip. His capture touched off a 2-month-old Israeli military offensive in Gaza.
Annan said he would do everything in his power to win the soldiers' release. He said that during his visit to Lebanon, which ended Tuesday, he discussed their fate. "I did not get the impression that they are not alive. I believe they are alive," he said.
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