Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert yesterday called the decision by the Lebanese government to deploy its army in the south of the country "interesting", but said it would have to be accompanied by the disarming of Hizbullah.
"I heard about the [ Lebanese] government decision . . . to deploy 15,000 Lebanese army soldiers," Mr Olmert told a news conference. "This decision is an interesting step which we have to study and examine and look at all the implications - to see to what degree it is practical and in what time frame. The faster we leave south Lebanon, the happier we will be, especially if we have achieved our goals."
But the Israeli leader said the deployment of the Lebanese army in the Hizbullah-controlled south would have to be accompanied by the deployment of a strong international force, able to engage in combat, and that Hizbullah would have to be disarmed.
Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora's readiness to deploy forces in the south appears to be a move aimed at altering a draft UN ceasefire resolution that allows Israeli forces to remain on Lebanese soil until the arrival of an international force.
Israel fears a situation in which it withdraws its forces and the Lebanese army does not deploy immediately, creating a vacuum that is then filled by Hizbullah. It is also worried by high levels of sympathy for Hizbullah among some Lebanese troops.
Mr Siniora's declaration will complicate matters for Israel's security cabinet, which meets today to discuss the option of expanding the military's ground operation in south Lebanon, possibly up to the Litani river, some 20-30km inside Lebanon, and maybe further north. If the cabinet decides to broaden the ground offensive, Israel could be perceived as rejecting the Lebanese proposal - a move that could cost it points in the diplomatic arena.
In recent days there has been growing criticism in Israel, voiced by former generals and military commentators, of the army's tactics in Lebanon.
The criticism has focused on the military's over-reliance on air power to smash Hizbullah and a failure to halt the daily barrage of rockets on Israel's northern towns.
Yossi Peled, a former head of the army's northern command, told Israel Radio yesterday that the military needed to launch a sweeping operation northward to extinguish most of the rocket fire by pushing it out of range of Israeli towns. "For more than two weeks we've been fighting for Bint Jbeil," he said, referring to a village just a few kilometres inside south Lebanon.
Writing in the daily Haaretz, veteran military commentator Ze'ev Schiff said the residents of northern Israel had become "cannon fodder" and that there is "no way to stop the ceaseless barrage of rockets which are being launched at the north without the Israel Defence Forces undertaking a prompt, more extensive aerial and ground operation designed to neutralize Hizbullah rockets south of the Litani river, perhaps even beyond."
Sensing the growing criticism, Mr Olmert has reiterated his assertion that the government has not placed any limitations on the military with regard to its ground operations.