Arabs on Thursday wrote off the Rome meeting on Lebanon as a disappointment and accused Washington of subverting the will of the world for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and the guerrilla group Hezbollah.
But some saw hope in signs that Washington was isolated and might have to change its position if its Israeli allies fail to make progress in their military campaign in south Lebanon.
The Rome conference of 15 governments, excluding Israel, Syria and Iran, did not call for an immediate ceasefire, as the major Arab countries had wanted. Instead participants promised to immediately start work to try to stop the fighting.
Diplomats say the United States wants to give Israel more time to hit Hezbollah militarily so that the movement is more likely to accept US and Israeli terms for a settlement.
But Arab governments say the cost in civilian lives is too high and talks on a settlement should follow the ceasefire.
”The whole world is being held hostage by just one country — the United States,” said one Arab diplomat, who asked not to be named. ”The only ones who could really put pressure are the Europeans, and they take things lying down these days.”
”I see that there is a general trend now to isolate America in one way or another because there was a strong consensus on a ceasefire,” said Mohamed Habib, the deputy leader of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood movement.
”It was clear that the US administration was on one side and the international community was on the other side, which shows that there is a split and it may widen,” he added.
An Arab diplomat who took part in the meetings said that in fact the US had support from Britain and Canada, diluting the extent of its isolation.
”The Canadians took a very strong position condemning Hezbollah and not saying a word about Israel. The others were concerned about humanitarian problems,” he added.
Cart before the horse
Papers across the Arab world described the Rome meeting as a failure and many blamed Washington for the outcome.
Washington’s position in Rome reinforced the widespread Arab view that the United States will support Israeli military actions under most circumstances.
”The Rome conference was never going to succeed as long as the major powers insist on putting the cart before the horse with conditions that will allow the aggression to continue,” said the Saudi daily Okaz.
Awad al-Zufairi, Kuwaiti politician and deputy head of the Gulf country’s unofficial Umma Party, said: ”Our reaction is clear. It is the continuous policy of America to support Israel. We think that America is wrong to support Israel.
”Israel is an aggressive nation that kills innocent people including children and women. What’s going on in Gaza and Lebanon is a clear evidence of that.”
Ali Ahmad al-Baghli, a former Kuwaiti oil minister, said Kuwaitis were very sorry to hear the result of the Rome talks.
”Lebanese people were expecting something to be done towards the Israeli atrocities … towards civilian targets,” he said.
George Ishak, coordinator of the opposition Kefaya movement in Egypt, was worried by the proposal to send European forces to south Lebanon, saying: ”We are warning our people that the Iraq scenario will be repeated.”
Habib said the US position would change if Israel suffered high losses, saying: ”If fate turns against the Zionist entity … then America will be the first to ask for a ceasefire”.
Israeli attacks kill 3 in Gaza
Meanwhile, Israeli attacks killed three people in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, a day after fighting that left 24 Palestinians dead, Palestinian medical workers said.
Those who died on Thursday included a 75-year-old woman, whose house was hit by a missile or shell. The identity of the other dead, aged 16 and 23, was not immediately clear. Medical workers said the two were killed in an air strike.
The army was checking the reports.
At least 148 Palestinians have been killed in the assault. Wednesday’s death toll was the highest since Israeli troops returned to the territory in late June, less than a year after they had withdrawn following a 38-year occupation.
Tanks and troops pushed into north-eastern Gaza, a stronghold of militants firing rockets into Israel, early on Wednesday and have remained. At least 12 of those killed on Wednesday were militants.
Militants have kept up attacks with homemade rockets despite the Israeli offensive.
Israel has rejected demands for a prisoner exchange by the gunmen who captured Corporal Gilad Shalit in a border raid on June 25. Some of the gunmen came from the armed wing of the governing Hamas Islamist group.
The offensive has put pressure on the Hamas-led government, which was already struggling under a crippling US-led aid embargo, designed to force the group to recognise Israel’s right to exist, renounce violence and accept past peace deals.
Israeli troops also surrounded a house in the West Bank city of Jenin. Residents said they opened fire at stone throwers, slightly wounding two.
Heavier air strikes
Israel pummelled south Lebanon with bombs and shells on Thursday and Israeli media said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s Cabinet favoured heavier air strikes against Hezbollah rather than a big ground offensive.
Israeli forces have been trying to push Hezbollah back from the border and end rocket attacks, but the army is wary of getting bogged down in guerrilla battles in southern Lebanon.
Israel launched its latest bombardment of the south a day after nine soldiers were killed in the heaviest 24-hour toll it has suffered in its 16-day-old conflict against Hezbollah.
”Ministers want to step up air strikes and limit ground operations,” Israeli media reported after Olmert’s inner security Cabinet met to consider a response to the losses.
At least 433 people in Lebanon and 51 Israelis have already been killed in the conflict.
Israeli warplanes destroyed radio masts north of Beirut on Thursday and attacked three trucks carrying medical and food supplies to the east, security sources said. They said two truck drivers were killed. Israel accuses Lebanon’s eastern neighbour Syria of supplying Hezbollah with arms. Syria denies the charge.
Other Israeli aircraft blasted targets in and around several villages and towns in the mainly Shi’ite Muslim south, and artillery batteries opened up from Israel’s side of the border.
Several Hezbollah rockets landed in northern Israel but caused no casualties, Israeli emergency services said.
Hezbollah guerrillas killed nine Israeli soldiers in pitched battles in a border town and a nearby village on Wednesday.
An opinion poll conducted before Wednesday’s fighting showed 95% of Israelis still believed the offensive in Lebanon was justified, though the minority supporting a halt to the war for negotiations rose to 12% from 8%. – Reuters