An end to fighting?

Olmert sets conditions for end to fighting
By RAVI NESSMAN, Associated Press Writer


JERUSALEM - Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Monday the fighting in Lebanon would end when the two Israeli soldiers captured by Hezbollah guerrillas were freed, rocket attacks on
Israel' .
Delivering an impassioned speech to parliament after six days of fighting with Lebanon, Olmert said Israel would have no mercy on militants who attack its cities with rockets, and he pledged to destroy terrorist infrastructure.
"We shall seek out every installation, hit every terrorist helping to attack Israeli citizens, destroy all the terrorist infrastructure, in every place. We shall continue this until Hezbollah does the basic and fair things required of it by every civilized person," he said in his first major address since the fighting in Lebanon began last week.
"Israel will not agree to live in the shadow of the threat of missiles or rockets against its residents."
Israeli officials have said publicly that Israel would not stop fighting until Hezbollah, a Shiite militia that controls much of south Lebanon, is dismantled. But Olmert's comments Monday — seeking the release of the soldiers, the end of Hezbollah attacks on Israel, and the deployment of Lebanese troops in south Lebanon — seemed to be a softening of that position.
In the past six days, 24 Israelis, half of them civilians, were killed in the fighting with Lebanon, while nearly 200 Lebanese, many of them civilians, were killed on the other side. The fighting began when Hezbollah kidnapped the soldiers in a cross-border raid. Since then, Israel has pounded Lebanon with airstrikes and Hezbollah has fired barrages of rockets and missiles into Israeli towns and cities.
"We are not looking for war or direct conflict, but if necessary we will not be frightened by it," Olmert said.
Meanwhile, an Israeli airstrike in Lebanon on Monday destroyed at least one long-range Iranian missile capable of hitting Tel Aviv, military officials said.
Israeli aircraft targeted a truck carrying the weapons before they could be launched, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because of military regulations. The force of the blast sent at least one missile flying into the air, but it fell nearby.
During nearly a week of fighting, Hezbollah militants have fired missiles up to 25 miles into Israel. But officials have raised concerns the guerrilla group could strike Tel Aviv, about 80 miles south of the border with Lebanon.
Olmert also praised the Israeli people for being strong and united in the face of the rocket bombardment that has sent about a half-million Israelis into bomb shelters. He said a Jewish prayer for the soldiers and said he had pictures of the three captured soldiers in his office and he looked at them often.
"We shall do everything with all our might to bring them home," he said, but added that Israel could not make a deal that would lead to further kidnappings.
He spoke at length about many of those killed and said that Israel was fighting for them.
"When missiles are launched at our residents and our towns, our answer will be war waged at full strength, with all determination, courage and sacrifice," he said.

Olmert also accused the Hamas militants in Gaza, where Israel has been waging an offensive for three weeks to free a soldier captured earlier, and Hezbollah in Lebanon of being agents of
Iran' and Syria'