Israel suspended air attacks on south Lebanon for 48 hours in the face of widespread outrage over an airstrike early Sunday that killed at least 56 Lebanese, almost all of them women and children, when it leveled a building where they had taken shelter.
The announcement was made by a State Department spokesman with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Jerusalem. In addition to suspending air attacks, Israel will also allow the opening of corridors for 24 hours for Lebanese civilians who wish to leave south Lebanon for the north and would maintain land, sea and air corridors for humanitarian assistance, officials said.
Israeli government officials confirmed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to an immediate 48-hour halt in airstrikes on Lebanon around midnight Sunday. Israel left open the possibility that it might hit targets to stop imminent attacks, and that the suspension could last less than 48 hours if the military completes its inquiry before then.
Lebanon said the Israeli suspension was not enough. "There is no cease-fire and there is no cessation of hostilities," Lebanese special envoy Nouhad Mahoud told reporters at the United Nations late Sunday. "We are looking for something much more than that."
The attack in Qana brought Lebanon's death toll to more than 510.
Before the suspension of airstrikes was announced, Olmert told Rice the campaign to crush Hizbullah could last up to two weeks more. "We will not stop this battle, despite the difficult incidents this morning," he told his Cabinet after the strike, according to a participant. "If necessary, it will be broadened without hesitation."
Meanwhile, the U.N. Security Council met in an emergency session and approved a presidential statement that voiced "shock and distress" over Israel's attack on Qana but stopped short of condemning it.
