The Lebanese government has rejected the proposed UN Security Council resolution because it fails to provide for the full withdrawal of all Israeli forces from Lebanon and permits them to defend themselves if Hizbullah attacks.
Retired Lebanese army general Amin Hotait speaks for most Lebanese when he says the resolution is totally unacceptable because it amounts to an attempt "to deprive Hizbullah of its victory. Normally the victorious party dictates terms to the defeated party."
Gen Hotait says Israel "has lost the war. The Israeli army has only three fixed positions in south Lebanon and continues to fight Hizbullah on five main axes. In the eastern sector of the frontier, Israeli troops and armour are at Taibeh, just over two kilometres inside Lebanon, and at Hula, a kilometre from the border.
"In the west, Israeli forces are at Aysh ash-Shaab, 1.3 kilometres inside Lebanon. There is no occupation till now. These are fighting positions. The Israelis have not been able to fortify them."
Fighting is also raging at Yarun, Kafr Kila and Jbab al-Arab, locations near the border, and Bint Jbail, six to eight kilometres within Lebanon.
Gen Hotait, who visits the front frequently, says Israel has about "250 soldiers inside Lebanon backed up by 10,000 across the border. These come in and go out." He argues that Israel's aim is to occupy a 2-3 km wide belt of territory just north of the border.
This means Israel will have to occupy all 38 villages in this area. So far, Israel has only managed to enter or take temporarily 10 villages, at great cost.
He contends that Israel cannot achieve even this modest objective: "Impossible." He estimates that it would take Israel at least two more weeks to create this border buffer zone.
He also dismisses Israel's original territorial objective - occupation of southern Lebanon to the Litani river, a strip of territory 20km wide. This would mean that Israeli troops would control all of the area's 175 villages. "Impossible. It's an impossible mission."
Gen Hotait knows south Lebanon well as he was his country's representative on the UN commission which delineated the "Blue Line" frontier in 2000 following Israel's withdrawal from the occupation zone established in 1978. He now teaches law at the Lebanese university.
He points out that failure of the UN to award Lebanon farmland belonging to the village of Shebaa located on the escarpment overlooking the slopes of Mount Hermon provided Hizbullah with a casus belli after Israel withdrew.
Hizbullah has been successful because it "has no bases or fixed positions.
"The entire south is the base for the resistance. The fighters are organised in units of three to seven men. They know how to wait for the enemy. They have tunnels where they store munitions, food, water. They can stay there day after day, week after week. Time means nothing to them.
"While Israel is following a classic conventional battle plan, Hizbullah has evolved innovative strategies and tactics. The fighters do not retreat, except tactically, and believe they must fight to victory or become martyrs. They know the Koranic verses which command them to keep on struggling."