War to go on despite suspension: Israel minister

Jerusalem, July 31: Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon today said an agreement to suspend air strikes on south Lebanon for 48 hours did not mean the war was about to end but should lift some pressure on Israel.

The minister was speaking before US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she believed a ceasefire could be reached this week between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas. There was no immediate Israeli government reaction to her comments.

Ramon told Israeli Army Radio: ''This (suspension) decision will allow us to continue the war over time and it will take off some of the political pressure, so I am sure this is the right decision for now. It is not stopping the war.

''If it ends today it means a victory for Hizbollah ... and for world terror, with far-reaching consequences. Therefore this war is not about to end, not today and not tomorrow,'' he said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice won the 48-hour suspension after an Israeli air raid killed at least 54 civilians, mostly children, triggering worldwide calls for an immediate truce in the nearly three-week war against Hizbollah.

Israel's Immigrant Absorption Minister Ze'ev Boim said the Jewish state would resume strikes if it saw signs Hizbollah was smuggling in arms from Syria.

''If there is an attempt to take advantage of the ceasefire and return weapons through passages in the Lebanese-Syrian border, this ceasefire in this case will not apply to such an effort,'' Boim told Army Radio.

Reuters

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