JERUSALEM, July 31 (UPI) -- Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Monday "no Israeli commander" would issue an order to hurt civilians who are not involved in its war with Hezbollah.
Speaking at a heated debate of the Israel parliament one day after an Israeli air raid killed 54 civilians in the southern Lebanese village of Qana, Peretz also said Israel must not agree to an immediate cease-fire, Israel's Arutz Sheva news service reported.
Hezbollah "extremists" will regroup and "in a few months we will be back in the same place," he said over impassioned interruptions, mostly from Arab Knesset members.
Knesset member Ibrahim Sarsur called Peretz a "child killer" and was ordered to leave the hall by Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik.
Peretz also said Israel would be "shutting our eyes" to the difference "between sovereignty and responsibility" if it did not take military action, Ynetnews reported.
Separately, one Israeli military official raised the possibility that the building in Qana collapsed hours after the strike and that munitions might have been stored in it, Arutz Sheva reported.
