BEIRUT, Lebanon, Aug. 8 (UPI) -- Hope for a breakthrough in the Israel-Lebanon war has appeared as the Lebanese cabinet pledged to deploy the army in the south after an Israeli pullout.
The Council of Ministers, in which Hezbollah is represented by two ministers, decided at an emergency meeting Monday night to deploy 15,000 soldiers backed by U.N. peacekeeping troops in south Lebanon known as UNIFIL along the border area now controlled by Hezbollah gunmen.
The cabinet decision stressed that the army will deployed as Israeli troops pull out from south Lebanon after a total cease-fire.
The decision was taken hours after Arab foreign ministers, defying Israeli air strikes, met in Beirut and vowed full support to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's seven-point plan for ending the 28-day Israeli onslaught on Lebanon.
Dismissing Israeli skepticism about the credibility of the Lebanese offer, Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said following the cabinet meeting "The army is ready and this is not empty talk," inferring that the proposed deployment underscores the government commitment to a negotiated cease-fire.
The Lebanese government's offer is aimed at boosting its capacity to negotiate an amendment to a U.S.-French draft resolution at the U.N. Security Council for resolving the conflict.
Siniora's cabinet had rejected the draft for failing to demand Israel's immediate withdrawal from Lebanese territory and placing the disputed Shebaa Farms under U.N. control. Lebanon also wants to boost UNIFIL's troop level and mission to help the Lebanese government extend its authority over all national territory.
In Israel, encouraging indications came from Prime Minister Ehud Olmert who said the Lebanese offer to deploy the army along the border "is worth being considered."
"We are discussing the Lebanese proposal to deploy the army in south Lebanon and whether such offer is feasible," Olmert said at a press conference Tuesday.
