As Israel continued a 13-day-old massive assault against Lebanon's Hezbollah guerillas on Monday, veteran Israeli officials in military and security fields are mulling over ways to end the bloody conflict.

Some proposed to deal with the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah directly and immediately, arguing that it was a great threat to Israel's national security, while others offered different approaches.

Moshe Elad, a retired colonel from the Israel Defense Forces, said, "The easiest goal that Israel can achieve, with international support, is replacing Hezbollah by Lebanese army units in south Lebanon."

Elad, who is also a former governor of the Lebanese city of Sour when southern Lebanon was under Israel's control, said that the unconditional release of the two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah guerillas was "the hardest to achieve, under the recent developments" because Lebanon was under attacks.

He continued that at the next stage of Israel's military operation, Israel could move its infantry into southern Lebanon to fight Hezbollah guerillas, destroying their ability to launch rockets on Israel.

Elad put forward two possible solutions to the Israel-Lebanon conflict: first, to eliminate or disarm Hezbollah with the support of the United States, the United Nations and European countries; second, to replace the UN Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in south Lebanon with another international force capable of clearing up the Shiite group.

If neither option could not be put into practice, Israel must continue attacks in Lebanon, Elad concluded.

However, Maj.-Gen. Oren Shachor, former IDF chief intelligence officer, believed that Israel must pay attention to Syria and Iran, which Israel accuses of supporting Hezbollah.

Shachor said that attacking Syria would be a direct blow to Hezbollah, adding that Syria must understand that it was part of the conflict and that Damascus bore a great responsibility for the conflict.

Shachor also said that the Syrian army would not withstand the Israeli troops' attacks.

Regarding military actions in Lebanon at the next stage, Shachor said that the Israeli army should send special forces into Lebanon instead of infantry and launch more airstrikes on south Lebanon.

Meanwhile, both Shachor and Elad agreed that Hezbollah would not disappear even if its leader Hassan Nasrallah was assassinated, but they added that it would take time for the organization to recover in that case.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Lebanon on Monday for talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora over the Israel-Lebanon conflict.

She is scheduled to visit Israel to negotiate a cessation of violence following the stop in Beirut.

Also on Monday, Israeli troops traded heavy fire with Hezbollah guerillas as they pushed north from the southern Lebanese border village Maroun al-Ras, seizing two Hezbollah guerrillas during the fighting.

Hezbollah leader Nasrallah said that Israeli incursions in south Lebanon would not stop the group from firing rockets into northern Israel.

Violence between Israel and Hezbollah erupted on July 12 when Hezbollah guerillas abducted two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in cross-border attacks.

Till now, more than 300 Lebanese and 37 Israelis have been killed in the clashes between the two sides.

Source: Xinhua