Lebanon's prime minister pleaded for an immediate end to the Israeli offensive, which he said was bringing his country to its knees and "cutting it to pieces" -- but he also made an unusual overture, urging Israel to seek a peace process with all its Arab neighbors.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora told a news conference on Wednesday that Israel could only hope to live in peace and security through good relations with all of its neighbors.
One way to achieve that, he said, would be to renew discussions over a small, disputed territory between the two nations known as the Chebaa Farms.
The collection of 14 farms dotting the western slopes of Mount Hermon is little more than 10km2, but it remains a key point of dispute that Hezbollah uses to justify continued rocket fire on northern Israel and other attacks against Israeli troops in the area.
Hezbollah militants cite Israel's control over the area in claiming that Israel continues to occupy a part of southern Lebanon. Resolving that dispute, or at least placing the territory under UN control until final borders can be defined, could help ease the conflict, he said.
"We want to liberate what's left of the Lebanese territories of what's still occupied by Israel," Saniora said. "This will put the [peace] process on the right track."
Israel has peace agreements with its other two Arab neighbors, Egypt and Jordan, and the Lebanese leader's remarks seemed to indicate a willingness to steer his country toward some type of peace with the Jewish state.
Israel's military occupied southern Lebanon for 18 years, pulling its troops out in 2000 in the face of rising casualties from fighting with the Hezbollah militia.
Israel did not withdraw from the Chebaa Farms area, which it seized in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, because though Lebanon claims the area, the UN determined it is Syrian and said that Syria and Israel should negotiate its fate.
Until the issue can be settled, Saniora appealed for the UN Security Council to grant access to the area for Lebanese property owners.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said, however, that there could be no discussion of Chebaa Farms with Lebanon.
"Chebaa Farms is not part of Lebanon. That is not Israel's opinion, that is the opinion of the UN. The problem of Chebaa Farms will be negotiated along with the future of the Golan Heights with Syria when peace talks resume," he said.
The Lebanese prime minister, whose fragile government has been further weakened by Israel's punishing military offensive, said Israel stood to gain nothing through new violence.
"Has any of the actions Israel has taken over the years brought Israel safety and security? Not at all. ... Having good relations with its neighbors" will help Israel, he said.
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