Hezbollah Starting to Crack

The unrelenting pressure being applied by Israel on the Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon must be starting to work as there are signs that the terrorists are looking for a way out of the situation:

Hizbullah agreed to allow the Lebanese government to begin negotiations regarding kidnapped IDF soldiers, according to speaker of the Lebanese Parliament Nabih Berri on Sunday afternoon.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanese Foreign Minister Fawzi Salloukh told a French news agency that the soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, were in "good physical condition."

This was the first time the Lebanese government released any statements about the two soldiers, who were captured by the Hizbullah 12 days ago.

He also called on the UN - or any other third party - to mediate a prisoner exchange between the Hizbullah and Israel.

There are a couple of things that stand out in this passage. Number one, the opening paragraph where it says that "Hizbullah agreed to allow the Lebanese government to begin negotiations". That tells you who's really in charge over there, and it's not the Lebanese government.

The last paragraph refers to a "prisoner exchange", which tells me that Hezbollah still thinks they will achieve their original goal of exchanging the two Israelis for hundreds of Hezbollah terrorists as has happened in the past. I don't think Israel is going to fall for that one again, regardless of who is doing the negotiation.

Meanwhile, Israel is striking even harder at southern Lebanon. Notice the language chosen by the AP:

Israeli warplanes have blitzed southern and eastern Lebanon after troops in tanks and armoured cars punched across the border and seized a strategic village, intensifying the war on Hezbollah despite mounting concern over the plight of civilians.

Shiite guerrillas responded with a new hail of rocket fire on Israel's third city of Haifa that killed two people, while the UN reported fighting around the village of Marun Al-Ras taken over by Israeli forces on Saturday.

As the bloody conflict entered its 12th day Sunday, top diplomats from France, Germany and Britain were heading to the region ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who rejects ceasefire calls as a "false promise."

In a wave of pre-dawn raids, fighter-bombers for the first time struck directly inside the main southern city of Sidon, where tens of thousands of Lebanese have sought refuge from the relentless Israeli offensive.

A three-storey building housing a Hezbollah religious centre was hit.

Cute effort by AP to connect the Israeli actions to those of the Nazis who "blitzed" Europe. As far as Hezbollah, does anyone really believe this was a "religious centre"? It's sort of like that "mosque" that was hit on Friday that had bunker beneath it protected by dozens of feet of reenforced concrete. Every mosque needs a bunker.