UN Proposes Ceasefire

Ha'aretz is reporting that UN envoys have presented a ceasefire proposal to the Israeli government. It may include European peacekeepers under UN control. (Which I believe would be a complete waste of time, the UN's track record on peacekeeping being one of running rather than fighting when necessary).

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni hinted Tuesday that Israel would not object to a temporary international force in south Lebanon, despite earlier an outright Israeli rejection of such a plan.

Speaking after a meeting with a United Nations delegation headed by special envoy Vijay Nambiar, Livni said that while Israel would prefer the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south of the country, "we will consider other solutions put forward."

"If there is a need to strengthen the Lebanese army somehow, so that the military in south Lebanon is effective, and prevents Hezbollah from returning, we will consider ways to do achieve this," Livni said.

She stressed, however, that any solution would have to take into consideration Israel's ability to respond to any incidents in the future.

During the meeting with the UN delegates Tuesday, Livni stressed that the current UNIFIL force "is ineffective and irrelevant." The UN envoys put forward to Livni a package aimed at ending the fighting, based on an outline drawn up by the G8 leaders during their meeting in Russia on Monday.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert also met with the UN team, despite saying previously that he would not do so.

The Israeli and UN teams disagreed over the order in which the steps should be implemented. According to the plan, the three soldiers abducted by Hezbollah and Hamas would be freed, rocket fire on Israel would end, Israel would halt its Air Force strikes on Lebanon and withdraw its troops from Gaza and the Hamas lawmakers.

Israel is demanding that the three soldiers be returned first, before the attacks on Lebanon stop.

That the Israelis did not reject the proposal out of hand should prove to it's critics that Israel is a civilized nation doing it's best against barbarians and cowards. You know, people who use human shields and rocket civilians. It will be interesting to see how Hezbollah reacts to this.