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Israel expects G8 to call on Lebanon to disarm Hizbollah-1

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TEL AVIV, July 15 (RIA Novosti) - Israel expects the Group of Eight industrialized nations to issue a demand to Lebanon to disarm Hizbollah militants and bring southern regions under government control, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official said Saturday.

Edward Shapira said Israel would only halt the military operations it launched in Lebanon following Hizbollah militants abducted two Israeli soldiers Wednesday when the country fulfilled a 2004 UN Security Council resolution ordering the Islamist group's disarmament.

Israel has been conducting air raids on Lebanon for four days and has destroyed almost all its bridges and many other infrastructure facilities and killed over 60 Lebanese civilians.

Israel has put the blame for the conflict on Beirut and urged it to impose order in its southern areas, which have been under Hizbollah's control since Israel withdrew troops six years ago.

We will do everything to put an end to Hizballah's activities in southern Lebanon, Shapira said.

Calling Hizbollah Israel's al-Qaeda and leader Hasan Nasralla its bin Laden, the diplomat said Beirut was quite capable of meeting Israel's demands.

He dismissed criticism that Israel had been using excessive military force against Lebanon, saying northern Israel had also been under missile strikes from Lebanese territory for four days.

Four Israelis, including an elderly woman and a child, were reportedly killed.

The presidents of Russia and the United States called after their meeting in advance to the G8 summit earlier in the day for a swift end to violence in the Middle East.

"We believe Israel's concerns are justified, but the use of force must be balanced," Vladimir Putin said, adding that bloodshed must be stopped as soon as possible.

Putin also said he condemned attempts to attain any goals by using force, and by means of abductions and attacks on sovereign states, but the escalation of violence would not lead to positive results.

George Bush urged Hizbollah to end attacks adding that Syria should put pressure on the movement and force it to stop violence in the Middle East.

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