Beirut: Israel said on Wednesday it could gradually dismantle its blockade of Lebanon as Lebanese and UN. forces control entry points to stop Hezbollah rearming, and the UN commander in the south said a breakthrough could be close.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who was in Ankara for talks on Turkey's contribution to a bigger UNIFIL peacekeeping force in Lebanon, has tried to orchestrate a deal to end an eight-week-blockade that Lebanon sees as collective punishment.
Annan, who is meeting Turkish leaders in Ankara, said on Wednesday he hopes Israel will lift its blockade of Lebanon within days.
"I'm still hopeful that the air, land and sea blockade will be lifted within the next 36 to 48 hours," Annan said in Ankara.
"We don't have a problem with a graduated lifting of the restrictions or with the idea that the restrictions would be lifted in an incremental fashion," Israeli foreign ministry spokesman Mark Regev told reporters.
"When they are ready, we will be ready. It doesn't have to be all or nothing. We can move on specific places," he said.
Asked if those places might include Beirut airport or harbors, he said: "I think we are working toward that goal."
Annan, who is due to report to the Security Council shortly on progress toward implementing Resolution 1701 that halted Israel's 34-day war with Hezbollah, said on Tuesday he hoped to receive word on the lifting of the blockade within two days.
"I have the feeling that it is coming closer," UNIFIL commander Major-General Alain Pellegrini told France's Europe 1 radio when asked when the embargo could be lifted.
"I think the United Nations and the contributing countries are able to react very quickly," Pellegrini added.
Pellegrini said the truce in Lebanon remained shaky.
"It remains fragile as far as there is an Israeli presence in Lebanon because every incident, misunderstanding or provocation can escalate very quickly," he said.
Pellegrini's spokesman, Alexander Ivanko, said UNIFIL had sent a written protest to Israel on Tuesday over Israeli infringements of Lebanese airspace and other truce violations.
Israel says the main truce violation is Hezbollah's failure to release two soldiers it captured on July 12. The Sh'ite group have said from the outset the soldiers will only be freed in return for Lebanese prisoners held in Israel.
On Tuesday, parliament voted 340-192 in favor of sending
troops to Lebanon, with one lawmaker abstaining, after a
lengthy debate on the floor.
On Tuesday, Turkish parliament authorised the participation of Turkish soldiers in an expanded UN peace mission in Lebanon.
The decision makes Turkey the first Muslim country with
diplomatic ties with Israel to send troops to Lebanon and
is likely to enhance the Muslim presence in the task force.
Meanwhile, France is quietly preparing to play a tougher role in the strengthened UN peacekeeping force in
Lebanon, rolling out hefty tanks, powerful artillery, and sophisticated radar systems to pinpoint artillery launch
sites.
French Leclerc tanks will be some of the mightiest vehicles deployed under the UN flag - an answer to
critics who have moaned about toothless, ineffectual UN peacekeeping deployments over the years.
The deployment from France, one of many countries contributing to an expanded UN peacekeeping mission in
Lebanon, will give new teeth to a force often criticised asineffective since its creation in 1978.
France, Italy and other nations have called for robust rules of engagement - which are still being worked out - to
ensure the safety of their forces and their rights of response in Lebanon.
