Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Tuesday Israel would be ready to call a cease-fire with Hizbullah if its captured troops are returned, the Lebanese army deploys along the countries' shared border and the future disarmament of Hizbullah can be guaranteed.
After a week of fighting, Livni said the time for diplomacy was at hand, though she noted that Israel's military operations would not end until its goals are reached. "We are beginning a diplomatic process alongside the military operation that will continue," she said. "The diplomatic process is not meant to shorten the window of time of the army's operation but rather is meant to be an extension of it and to prevent a need for future military operations."
Livni also slammed Syria and Iran. "There is another need to prevent Iran and Syria, and from Iran through Syria, to arm Hizbullah in the future," Livni said. "These are our diplomatic goals and to achieve them we will cooperate with the international community."
U.N. negotiator Terje Roed-Larsen told reporters in Jerusalem that "concrete ideas" had been presented to the Israeli government to solve the crisis, and that Israel would deliberate on them in the coming days.
Meanwhile in Tehran, thousands of Iranians staged a rally Tuesday to condemn the atrocities of Israel in occupied Palestine and Lebanon. Several senior Iranian officials, members of political groups, organizations and parties, university students and people from various walks of life attended the rally.
The rally was held to condemn the "savage Zionist attacks" on Lebanon and Palestine in an ongoing offensive which has led to the killing of hundreds of Lebanese civilians.
