Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said on Monday that he had instructed
the army to expand offensives against Hezbollah rocket launching sites in the
absence of a diplomatic agreement.
"We are at one of the most decisive stages of this war ... We will occupy
Katyusha launching pads in order to quell the fire," Peretz told the Knesset
(parliament) Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
He made the remarks one day after Lebanese Hezbollah rocket attacks killed 15
Israelis in northern Israel, the deadliest day for Israel since the violence
between the two sides began on July 12.
The Israeli army will be given the green light to operate anywhere in Lebanon
in order to "minimize the fire of Katyusha rockets and take the Israeli people
out of the shelters," Peretz was quoted by the Jerusalem Post as saying.
On Monday morning, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Peretz met with defense
officials to discuss expansion of military operations in Lebanon.
