Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Monday that a resolution of the conflict in Lebanon must mean the release of the two Israeli soldiers kidnapped by Hezbollah, the Associated Press reported. The July 12 kidnapping «was the start of this entire matter,» Livni said in Berlin after meeting with German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier. «From our side, so long as this issue with the two soldiers is not solved, the whole thing is of little significance. Our sovereignty has been infringed and if this resolution does not make that good, then we still have this problem.» Hezbollah fighters killed three Israeli soldiers and seized two more in a cross-border raid July 12, sparking 34 days of fighting that ended Aug. 14. The United Nations is putting together a peacekeeping force to help uphold a cease-fire and allow the Lebanese government to take control of the area. «Many people in Israel are asking when ... the kidnapped soldiers are coming home,» Livni said. «An entire nation is waiting for the soldiers to come home.» «And therefore we expect that this resolution will implement this as well.» Steinmeier said, «We know ... the significance the freeing of the Israeli soldiers has in Israel and for Israel.»
