IT WAS all too early for a diplomatic initiative to end Israel's military operation in Lebanon, the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Shimon Peres, said yesterday.
Mr Peres also dismissed suggestions that there was growing diplomatic pressure on Israel to end its military operation. "Those who cannot stop the Katyushas [rockets] " said Mr Peres, referring to the Lebanese government and indirectly to Syria, "cannot exercise [diplomatic] pressure."
But Mr Peres did not shut the door on diplomatic efforts to defuse the conflict, saying that while Israel had not "turned to anyone and would not turn to anyone", he would "consider" overtures if he received any.
Nevertheless, diplomatic efforts to bring about a ceasefire in Lebanon were intensifying yesterday as the US Secretary of State, Mr Warren Christopher, began mediating between Israel and Syria, with whose consent Hizbullah guerrillas operate in south Lebanon. Since Israel's air assault started on Thursday of, last week, the US has given Jerusalem full backing.
Meanwhile, Hizbullah guerrillas continued to pepper northern Israel with Katyusha rockets yesterday, causing the evacuation of children from the western Galilee town of Nahariya.
Buses carried children southwards to Israeli towns our of Katyusha range, after a rocket hit a school in Nahariya on Sunday, blowing a hole in the ceiling of a classroom. Thousands of Israelis from around the country have offered to put the children up until the rocket attacks cease.
Damage to property in northern Israel as a result of the rocket attacks has been estimated at around five million shekels (£1 million). With business and tourism paralysed, though, the overall damage is estimated to be in tens of millions of shekels.
Already, more than half of the 23,000 residents in the Katyushahit border town of Qiryat - Shemona have left their homes, with those still in town spending most of their time in bomb shelters.
One northern resident has been seriously injured and several dozen have sustained light injuries in five days of consecutive rocket fire. One resident, Mr Shaom Dadon, had a narrow escape yesterday when a Katyusha rocket fell only metres from a synagogue where he was praying.
. Israel has agreed to allow Mr Naef Hawatmeh, head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and Ms Leila Khaled, who was known for her hijacking escapades in the late 1960s and early 1970s, into the autonomous areas under Mr Yasser Arafat's control for the meeting of the Palestinian National Council (PNC) next week. The PNC is meeting to cancel those clauses in the PLO charter which call for Israel's destruction. Ms Khaled (52) is a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
Peter Hirschberg is a senior writer at the Jerusalem Report.
Patrick Cockburn adds from Jerusalem Israel expects the US to begin diplomatic moves to put pressure on Syria to curb Hizbullah and set the stage for a ceasefire. There are doubts in Jerusalem, however, that President" Hafez al Assad of Syria will bed willing to do this.
Despite Israel's overwhelming military superiority, Hizbullah is still firing salvoes of rockets into northern Galilee, where they cause few casualties but have led much of the population to flee or live in shelters. Three Israelis were injured yesterday and five were treated for shock.
Mr Peres has promised to stop the firing of, Katyushas but this may not be feasible by use of air and artillery alone. "This has to be decided on the ground," says Dr Dore Gold at the Jaffee Centre for Strategic Studies at Tel Aviv university. "It cannot be decided by air power and videotapes [taken by attacking aircraft]."
The key to resolution of the crisis is Syria, says Dr Gold. Israel denounces Iran as the hidden hand which controls Hizbullah, but this is largely because it has not wanted to demonise Syria with which it has been negotiating a peace treaty under which Israel would relinquish the Golan Heights. President Assad may not want to restrain Hizbullah until there is a final deal with Israel.
Maj Gen Moshe Ya'alon, the head of military intelligence, says head of military intelligence, says that if Hizbullah's ability to fire rockets is diminished then it will strike at Israel with suicide bomers or hang gliders. He added that Iranian embassy staff in Beirut had left for Damascus.
The Israeli press says senior officials in Israel have received, signals from Damascus that it wants to see a new arrangement in south Lebanon. If no agreement is reached with Syria then there will be pressure on Mr Peres to use ground troops, something he says he is determined not to do.