Israel suspends air strikes for 48 hours

Amid mounting international pressure, Israel on Monday agreed to halt its deadly aerial operations in southern Lebanon for 48 hours to investigate the bombing in Lebanese village of Qana that left 54 people, most of them children and women, dead.

United States State Department spokesman Adam Ereli, accompanying US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, made the announcement at Jerusalem following her meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Israel, however, has the right to take action against targets preparing attacks against it, Ereli said.

"The United States welcomes this decision and hopes that it will help relieve the suffering of the children and families of southern Lebanon," he said.

The Prime Minister's Office confirmed that the Israel Defence Forces will halt air strikes over Lebanon for up to 48 hours, until the army probe into the Qana tragedy is completed.

'No targets will be hit, unless they threaten to strike Israel, until the full IDF investigation concludes and after all lessons have been drawn,' a statement from the PMO said.

'Israel will allow, in coordination with the United Nations, safe passage for the residents of south Lebanon wishing to evacuate the area within 24 hours, and will also operate ground and sea corridors for humanitarian aid to go through,' it said.

Meanwhile, the IDF admitted that while it did indeed strike the building at Qana in which the civilians were killed, the attack itself occurred near midnight, long before the building collapsed.

"The question we don't have an answer to is what happened between 12 midnight and 8 in the morning," said IAF Brigadier General Amir Eshel.

The air force had resumed bombing Qana at 7:30 AM, he said, adding however that the strikes were carried out on targets at a distance of 460 meters from the building.

The press conference hinted that the building may have been destroyed by explosives hidden by Hezbollah.

The Israeli army said it aimed to establish a security zone along the southern Lebanese border by Wednesday.

"By Wednesday we are going to establish a two-kilometre security zone in which there will be no infrastructure or sign of Hezbollah's presence," reports quoting army operations chief General Gadi Eisenkaut said.