Israel is resuming full air strikes in southern Lebanon, after a 48-hour lull in bombing. Crushing Hizbollah remains the main aim, confirmed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert: “Our resilience has created a new balance of power between Israel and its enemies. I have no doubt this new balance of power will enable the creation of a new reality that will be safer and better for Israel.”

In an oblique reference to other countries in the region, Olmert said the world now knows how Israel will respond to attack. Speaking on primetime television, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the end of the conflict was in sight: “I still believe that if we really put our minds toward it, that it is entirely possible. Certainly we are talking about days and not weeks before we can get a ceasefire,” she asserted.

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