Israel replaces commander

JERUSALEM — The Israeli army Tuesday sent a new commander to oversee its offensive in Lebanon, a move believed to reflect dissatisfaction with the way the war is proceeding.

The change came as Israel's top security officials were set to meet today to consider an expansion of the ground offensive in Lebanon, a move called for by several commanders.

Maj. Gen. Moshe Kaplinsky, deputy chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, was named "to coordinate the Israeli army's operations in Lebanon," according to a statement.

The statement said top army officials retained "complete confidence" in Maj. Gen. Udi Adam, head of Israel's northern command, who has led the assault on Hezbollah since it began July 12.

But some Israeli TV reports described the arrival of Kaplinsky, who had previously commanded Israeli forces in the West Bank and Lebanon, as "an impeachment" and said it was the first time since 1973 that the top command had been reshuffled during a war.

While the Israeli public has strongly backed the nearly four-week air and ground campaign, criticism had recently begun to mount about the way it was being conducted.

Asked by Israel TV whether he would resign, Adam said he did not intend to quit while the fighting raged but said he would "consider his position" if it became clear he was being supplanted.

"At this stage, one has to rise above it," he said. "There are soldiers in the field who are fighting with courage. ... I don't think I can abandon them now."

The command shift was announced as Israel shut down south Lebanon with a threat to blast any moving vehicles, and Arab governments called for a full Israeli withdrawal as a condition of any cease-fire.

With U.S., French and Arab negotiators meeting into the evening at the United Nations in New York, Israel voiced cautious interest in a Lebanese proposal to deploy 15,000 soldiers to control the ground in south Lebanon where Hezbollah has been firing missiles into Israel.

But diplomatic efforts to wrap up the Security Council cease-fire resolution stumbled over the issue of an Israeli troop withdrawal from southern Lebanon, diplomats said.

U.N. diplomats said the issue had opened a rift between the U.S. and France, the two main sponsors of the resolution, while a visiting delegation of Arab foreign ministers insisted during a meeting of the Security Council that the resolution include such a demand.

U.S. and French diplomats had initially hoped to adopt the draft early this week, but it now appears unlikely to be adopted before Thursday.

The original draft put forward by the U.S. and France made no mention of an Israeli troop withdrawal from south Lebanon.

But that issue was one of several that were crucial for Lebanon, and France has sought to consider that, France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sablière said.

A Security Council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said France had proposed new language mentioning an Israeli withdrawal to the Americans, who rejected it. "They were preferring some other language which was a bit more subdued," the diplomat said.

The draft calls for a "full cessation of hostilities," but it allows Israeli forces to perform defensive operations. Some diplomats said that was essentially giving permission for Israel to remain in south Lebanon, because Israel claims its troops are there to defend against attack.

After four weeks of fighting, nearly 800 people total have died on both sides. Rescuers in Lebanon pulled 28 additional corpses from the wreckage of Monday's attacks, raising that day's toll to 77 Lebanese, the deadliest single day of the war. Israeli airstrikes Tuesday killed at least 19 civilians.

At least 160 Hezbollah rockets hit northern Israel, most of them in and around the towns of Nahariya, Kiryat Shemona, Maalot and Safed. No Israeli civilians were killed.

Some of the fiercest ground fighting raged around the village of Bint Jbail, a Hezbollah stronghold Israel has tried to capture for weeks.

Early today, Israel's military targeted Lebanon's largest Palestinian refugee camp from the air, killing at least one person and wounding three.

Lebanese and Palestinian officials said an Israeli gunship shelled the Ein el-Hilweh camp, but Israel's military called the attack an airstrike against a house used by Hezbollah guerrillas. The identities of the casualties weren't known.

Material from The Washington Post and The Associated Press is included in this report.