By HUSSEIN DAKROUB, AP
JERUSALEM (July 19) -- Israeli troops punched into south Lebanon on Wednesday as warplanes flattened houses and buildings including one thought to hold Hezbollah's top leaders, intensifying an offensive despite mounting international pressure and a Lebanese appeal to spare the country further death and devastation.
The attempt to wipe out the Hezbollah leadership was the most dramatic action on a day that saw Israelis clash with the guerrillas and the Lebanese prime minister say about 300 people in his country had died in the eight-day offensive. Israel broadcast warnings into south Lebanon telling civilians to leave the region, a possible prelude to a larger Israeli ground operation.
Hezbollah, undeterred, fired rockets into the Israeli Arab town of Nazareth, where Jesus is said to have spent his boyhood, killing two Arab brothers, ages 3 and 9, as they played outdoors.
Thousands of foreigners fled Lebanon in one of the largest evacuation operations since World War II, including 1,000 Americans who arrived in Cyprus early Thursday on a rented cruise ship.
"I'm so relieved, there are no words to explain. I'm very thankful," said Elizabeth Kassab, 45, nervously smoking a cigarette on the ship's deck. "But I'm still nervous and I won't relax until we get out of here."
The flight from the fighting came as international pressure mounted on Israel and its key supporter, the United States, to agree to a cease-fire. The rising death toll and scope of the destruction deepened a rift between the U.S. and Europe, and humanitarian agencies were sounding the alarm over a pending catastrophe with a half million people displaced in Lebanon.
Hezbollah denied that any of its "leaders or members" died in the strike in the Bourj al-Barajneh district of south Beirut. The explosives did not blast a leadership bunker, but a mosque under construction, the group said in a statement faxed to The Associated Press.
In a statement, the Israeli military spokesman's office said: "We attacked a bunker of Hezbollah leaders in the Bourj al-Barajneh neighborhood of Beirut." The military said the attack took place between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. and involved 23 tons of explosives.
Last Friday, Israel bombed leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah's headquarters but both he and his family survived.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, whose weak government has been unable to fulfill a U.N. directive to disarm Hezbollah and put its army along the border with Israel, issued an urgent appeal for a cease-fire. He said his country "has been torn to shreds," and pointedly criticized the U.S. position that Israel acts in self-defense.
"Is this what the international community calls self-defense?" a stern-looking Saniora asked a meeting of foreign diplomats including U.S. Ambassador Jeffrey Feltman. "Is this the price we pay for aspiring to build our democratic institutions?"
Israel vowed to press the offensive in Lebanon until it destroys the militant Shiite guerrillas' vast arsenal of missiles and drives Hezbollah fighters far from its northern border.
The Bush administration is giving Israel a tacit green light to take the time it needs to neutralize the Shiite militant group, but the Europeans fear mounting civilian casualties will play into the hands of militants and weaken Lebanon's democratically elected government.
President Bush has made the survival of the Saniora government a top priority, but the continuing Israeli operation threatened to return Lebanon to the political chaos and violence that ravaged the country during its long civil war.
Saniora pleaded for the foreign powers to back a cease-fire. "Lift the siege and quickly send humanitarian aid," he said, demanding compensation from Israel for "immeasurable loss" to infrastructure.
About 1,000 Americans fled the relentless air attacks, sailing to Cyprus on a chartered cruise liner. An estimated 200 others were flown to the Mediterranean island on giant Chinook transport helicopters.
In all, more than 10,000 people from at least 13 countries had been extracted from Lebanon by Wednesday night.
Israel refused to rule out a full-scale invasion.
"There is a possibility _ all our options are open. At the moment, it's a very limited, specific incursion but all options remain open," Capt. Jacob Dallal, an Israeli army spokesman, told The Associated Press.
He said Israel had hit "1,000 targets in the last 8 days _ 20 percent (of them were) missile launching sites, control and command centers, missiles and so forth."
Israel said its airstrikes had destroyed "about 50 percent" of Hezbollah's arsenal. "It will take us time to destroy what is left," Brig. Gen. Alon Friedman, a senior army commander, told Israeli Army Radio.
Israel used a radio station near the border to broadcast warnings into south Lebanon telling civilians to leave the region. The radio warnings also stressed that any pickup truck or truck traveling south of the Litani River would be suspected of transporting weapons and rockets and therefore be a potential target of attack.
At least two Israeli soldiers and one militant fighter died Wednesday in the fierce battles in southern Lebanon. Israeli authorities said 18 people were wounded in the Hezbollah rocket attack on Nazareth.
At the close of the eighth day of fighting, a total of 29 people had been reported killed on the Israeli side of the border, including 14 soldiers and 15 civilians.
Saniora said about 300 people had died in Lebanon, 1,000 wounded and half a million were displaced. But precise casualty figures were difficult to confirm.
The police control room announced a total death count in the late morning. As of midday Wednesday, police said 277 had died in Israeli air and missile strikes. The figure at noon Tuesday was 237, which would suggest 40 people had died in the 24 hours ending noon Wednesday.
It was not clear if Saniora had simply rounded the 277 figure up or if he knew of 23 additional deaths Wednesday afternoon.
But it was clear the fighting went on: Three large explosions rattled south Beirut shortly after sunset, a time when Israeli strikes have hit in past days.
The Israeli incursion into Lebanon came before dawn Wednesday, when troops clashed with guerrillas near the coastal border town of Naqoura. The troops later pulled back across the border, though witnesses reported two tanks remained about 500 yards inside Lebanon.
With Hezbollah still operating on the border despite a week's poundings, Israeli strikes were chasing rocket firers with a vengeance, but often hitting others. U.N. peacekeepers' main headquarters in the south was hit by an Israeli artillery shell after a rocket was fired from nearby. There were no casualties.
Israeli bombers, which had been focusing on Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut, also hit a Christian suburb on the eastern side of the capital for the first time. The target was a truck-mounted machine used to drill for water but could have been mistaken for a missile launcher. No one was hurt.
In the village of Srifa, near Tyre in southern Lebanon, airstrikes flattened 15 houses after rockets were fired from the area. The village's headman, Hussein Kamaledine, said 25 to 30 people lived in the houses, but it was not known if they were at home at the time. Many people have fled southern Lebanon.
"This is a real massacre," Kamaledine told Hezbollah's Al-Manar TV as fire engines extinguished the blaze and rescue workers searched for survivors.
High casualties also were feared in the nearby town of Salaa and the Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbek in eastern Lebanon, where more houses were devastated.
AP correspondents Sam F. Ghattas and Zeina Karam in Beirut, Lebanon, and Ravi Nessman in Jerusalem contributed to this report.
7/19/2006 21:33:37 EDT
CRISIS in the MIDDLE EAST
Moderators: Cell_Leader, ikaotiki, Julstar
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theone666
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theone666
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Israel bombs three Gaza tunnels
Thursday, 20 July 2006, 05:31 GMT 06:31 UK
Israel kept up its three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip overnight as warplanes bombed three tunnels it said were being used to channel weapons.
On Wednesday evening, a Palestinian died in an Israeli strike on Mughazi refugee camp in central Gaza - taking the day's death toll in Gaza to 10.
Israeli troops also arrested 12 wanted Palestinians in the West Bank.
Israel's campaign in Gaza began after Hamas militants captured Cpl Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid.
It also aims to stop rocket attacks by Palestinian militants, who say such attacks are in retaliation for Israeli attacks on them.
The BBC's Alan Johnston in Mughazi said people were screaming in pain and horror after Israeli aircraft fired a missile into a street on the edge of the refugee camp.
One person was killed and 20 people were injured.
The Israelis said the Palestinians were armed.
'Terror infrastructure'
The strike followed a day of sporadic fighting after Israeli ground troops moved across the border to seize ground around the camp in the early hours of Wednesday.
The Israeli army said the operation aimed "to target terror infrastructure" in the camp.
At least 10 Palestinians were killed and more than 80 wounded, hospital officials said. Five Israeli soldiers were also injured, the Israeli army said.
Meanwhile, five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli operation in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Soldiers, along with tanks and bulldozers, surrounded a security building in a bid to capture militants suspected of links with Hezbollah apparently hiding inside.
The Israeli army said 12 wanted Palestinians were arrested.
Israel kept up its three-week offensive in the Gaza Strip overnight as warplanes bombed three tunnels it said were being used to channel weapons.
On Wednesday evening, a Palestinian died in an Israeli strike on Mughazi refugee camp in central Gaza - taking the day's death toll in Gaza to 10.
Israeli troops also arrested 12 wanted Palestinians in the West Bank.
Israel's campaign in Gaza began after Hamas militants captured Cpl Gilad Shalit in a cross-border raid.
It also aims to stop rocket attacks by Palestinian militants, who say such attacks are in retaliation for Israeli attacks on them.
The BBC's Alan Johnston in Mughazi said people were screaming in pain and horror after Israeli aircraft fired a missile into a street on the edge of the refugee camp.
One person was killed and 20 people were injured.
The Israelis said the Palestinians were armed.
'Terror infrastructure'
The strike followed a day of sporadic fighting after Israeli ground troops moved across the border to seize ground around the camp in the early hours of Wednesday.
The Israeli army said the operation aimed "to target terror infrastructure" in the camp.
At least 10 Palestinians were killed and more than 80 wounded, hospital officials said. Five Israeli soldiers were also injured, the Israeli army said.
Meanwhile, five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli operation in the northern West Bank city of Nablus.
Soldiers, along with tanks and bulldozers, surrounded a security building in a bid to capture militants suspected of links with Hezbollah apparently hiding inside.
The Israeli army said 12 wanted Palestinians were arrested.
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theone666
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UN warning on Mid-East war crimes
Thursday, 20 July 2006, 08:52 GMT 09:52 UK
War crimes could have been committed in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza, a senior UN official has said.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said international law stressed the need to protect civilians.
There is an obligation on all parties to respect the "principle of proportionality", she said.
About 300 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have been killed in the violence. Thirty Israelis, including 15 civilians, have also been killed.
The UN reported on Wednesday that about 100 Palestinians, civilians and fighters, have been killed since the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza in late July.
Both crises were precipitated by the capture by Hamas and Hezbollah of Israeli soldiers in cross-border operations into Israel.
Along with a massive shelling campaign across Lebanon and Gaza by Israel, Hezbollah has been firing barrages of missiles into northern Israel, targeting urban areas, and Palestinian militants continue their rocket fire into Israel.
"Indiscriminate shelling of cities constitutes a foreseeable and unacceptable targeting of civilians," Ms Arbour said.
"Similarly, the bombardment of sites with alleged military significance, but resulting invariably in the killing of innocent civilians, is unjustifiable."
'Personal exposure'
Ms Arbour expressed "grave concern over the continued killing and maiming of civilians in Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory".
Without pointing to specific individuals, she suggested that leaders could bear personal responsibility.
"I do believe that on the basis of evidence that is available in the public domain there are very serious concerns that the level of civilian casualties, the indiscriminate shelling of cities and so on, on their face raise sufficient questions that I think one must issue a sobering signal to those who are behind these initiatives to examine very closely their personal exposure," she told the BBC.
War crimes could have been committed in Lebanon, Israel and Gaza, a senior UN official has said.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour said international law stressed the need to protect civilians.
There is an obligation on all parties to respect the "principle of proportionality", she said.
About 300 Lebanese, most of them civilians, have been killed in the violence. Thirty Israelis, including 15 civilians, have also been killed.
The UN reported on Wednesday that about 100 Palestinians, civilians and fighters, have been killed since the start of the Israeli offensive in Gaza in late July.
Both crises were precipitated by the capture by Hamas and Hezbollah of Israeli soldiers in cross-border operations into Israel.
Along with a massive shelling campaign across Lebanon and Gaza by Israel, Hezbollah has been firing barrages of missiles into northern Israel, targeting urban areas, and Palestinian militants continue their rocket fire into Israel.
"Indiscriminate shelling of cities constitutes a foreseeable and unacceptable targeting of civilians," Ms Arbour said.
"Similarly, the bombardment of sites with alleged military significance, but resulting invariably in the killing of innocent civilians, is unjustifiable."
'Personal exposure'
Ms Arbour expressed "grave concern over the continued killing and maiming of civilians in Lebanon, Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory".
Without pointing to specific individuals, she suggested that leaders could bear personal responsibility.
"I do believe that on the basis of evidence that is available in the public domain there are very serious concerns that the level of civilian casualties, the indiscriminate shelling of cities and so on, on their face raise sufficient questions that I think one must issue a sobering signal to those who are behind these initiatives to examine very closely their personal exposure," she told the BBC.
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theone666
- Major [O-4]
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Fighting inside Lebanese border
Thursday, 20 July 2006, 11:16 GMT 12:16 UK
Israeli soldiers are fighting Hezbollah militants inside the Lebanese border, Israeli military officials say.
The clashes come as Israel keeps up its bombing of Lebanon, carrying out 80 air strikes early on Thursday.
Lebanon's president has called for an immediate ceasefire, calling Israel's offensive - which has killed 300 people and displaced 500,000 - a "massacre".
Bombed roads are hampering aid efforts, with the UN warning the humanitarian crisis is worsening by the hour.
The nine days of fighting - triggered by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by the militant Hezbollah group in a cross-border raid - have left 29 Israelis dead, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
US troops land
Captain Eric Schneider from the Israeli Defence Force told the BBC there was heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants in two places inside Lebanon's border.
Hezbollah issued a statement saying that it had destroyed two Israeli tanks. The Israeli army has not confirmed this, but did say at least three Israeli soldiers had been injured.
The Israeli public security minister, Avi Dichter, said Hezbollah had to understand that its "time is up" and that Israel will only accept a Lebanese government force at the border.
Hezbollah frequently fires rockets over the border into Israeli territory and since this crisis began their missiles have penetrated as far south as the cities of Haifa and Tiberias.
Many thousands of people continue to flee Lebanon, and a number of countries have sent ships and helicopters to move their nationals.
Britons in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, have been gathering at a conference centre in the city ready to be transferred to HMS Bulwark, which can carry 5,000 people, while about 40 US marines from the USS Nashville have come ashore in Beirut to assist with the evacuation of US citizens.
It is the first time US troops have been in Lebanon since Hezbollah militants blew up a marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, killing 241 personnel.
In other developments:
Cyprus says it cannot cope with the influx of evacuees, expected to reach 60,000, and appeals to the European Commission for additional planes to fly evacuees to their home countries
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, warns that those involved in the spiral of violence between Israel and Lebanon could face war crimes charges if they are found to have deliberately attacked civilians
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are to discuss the crisis on Thursday
Pope Benedict XVI calls for a day of prayer on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire in the crisis
But as thousands of foreigners leave, aid agencies are expressing increasing concern for those who will be left behind, especially people in the south who have been displaced by the fighting.
In an interview with French radio, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud called for an immediate truce to end what he described as a "massacre".
"Israel is bombing everything, even little streets, even ambulances, even lorries which are taking the food supplies," Mr Lahoud said.
Mr Lahoud appealed for an instant end to the violence saying, "after that we can talk. We can discuss everything, but first the fighting has to stop".
Civilians caught up
The United Nations' emergency relief co-ordinator, Jan Egeland, said that without a truce allowing aid agencies to begin the relief effort there would be a "catastrophe".
"It is nearly impossible in southern Lebanon to move anything anywhere because it is too dangerous," he said.
Mr Egeland said that neither Hezbollah nor the Israelis seemed to care about civilian suffering, adding that nearly a third of the dead or wounded were children and the wounded could not be helped because roads and bridges had been cut by Israeli air strikes.
"The Israeli military attacks are all over the country. There are aerial bombardments which are in hundreds of places really. I think it is a disproportionate response, really," Mr Egeland told the BBC.
"But I also clearly see that Hezbollah is trying to blend into the civilian population in too many places and they bear also a heavy responsibility for this. They do not seem to care that they really inflict a lot of suffering on their own population," he added.
Tyre evacuation
In the southern Lebanese city of Tyre the evacuation of hundreds of foreign nationals who had been trapped by the fighting has begun.
The group, which was forced to spend the night in the open on the beachfront after the evacuation was cancelled on Wednesday, are being transferred in UN convoys to Tyre port then ferried to an awaiting passenger ship.
Many Lebanese fear that the violence could escalate further once the foreign nationals are evacuated.
"I have a very bad feeling that after the foreigners flee the bombings will get worse," Beirut resident Ziad Nayef told Reuters. "Nobody cares about Arab lives."
The Israelis say they are fighting to end the control of Hezbollah over the lives of ordinary people on both sides of the border.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the campaign against the militants would continue "as long as necessary" to free its captured soldiers and ensure Hezbollah is not a threat.
Israeli soldiers are fighting Hezbollah militants inside the Lebanese border, Israeli military officials say.
The clashes come as Israel keeps up its bombing of Lebanon, carrying out 80 air strikes early on Thursday.
Lebanon's president has called for an immediate ceasefire, calling Israel's offensive - which has killed 300 people and displaced 500,000 - a "massacre".
Bombed roads are hampering aid efforts, with the UN warning the humanitarian crisis is worsening by the hour.
The nine days of fighting - triggered by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by the militant Hezbollah group in a cross-border raid - have left 29 Israelis dead, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
US troops land
Captain Eric Schneider from the Israeli Defence Force told the BBC there was heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants in two places inside Lebanon's border.
Hezbollah issued a statement saying that it had destroyed two Israeli tanks. The Israeli army has not confirmed this, but did say at least three Israeli soldiers had been injured.
The Israeli public security minister, Avi Dichter, said Hezbollah had to understand that its "time is up" and that Israel will only accept a Lebanese government force at the border.
Hezbollah frequently fires rockets over the border into Israeli territory and since this crisis began their missiles have penetrated as far south as the cities of Haifa and Tiberias.
Many thousands of people continue to flee Lebanon, and a number of countries have sent ships and helicopters to move their nationals.
Britons in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, have been gathering at a conference centre in the city ready to be transferred to HMS Bulwark, which can carry 5,000 people, while about 40 US marines from the USS Nashville have come ashore in Beirut to assist with the evacuation of US citizens.
It is the first time US troops have been in Lebanon since Hezbollah militants blew up a marine barracks in Beirut in 1983, killing 241 personnel.
In other developments:
Cyprus says it cannot cope with the influx of evacuees, expected to reach 60,000, and appeals to the European Commission for additional planes to fly evacuees to their home countries
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour, warns that those involved in the spiral of violence between Israel and Lebanon could face war crimes charges if they are found to have deliberately attacked civilians
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice are to discuss the crisis on Thursday
Pope Benedict XVI calls for a day of prayer on Sunday for an immediate ceasefire in the crisis
But as thousands of foreigners leave, aid agencies are expressing increasing concern for those who will be left behind, especially people in the south who have been displaced by the fighting.
In an interview with French radio, Lebanese President Emile Lahoud called for an immediate truce to end what he described as a "massacre".
"Israel is bombing everything, even little streets, even ambulances, even lorries which are taking the food supplies," Mr Lahoud said.
Mr Lahoud appealed for an instant end to the violence saying, "after that we can talk. We can discuss everything, but first the fighting has to stop".
Civilians caught up
The United Nations' emergency relief co-ordinator, Jan Egeland, said that without a truce allowing aid agencies to begin the relief effort there would be a "catastrophe".
"It is nearly impossible in southern Lebanon to move anything anywhere because it is too dangerous," he said.
Mr Egeland said that neither Hezbollah nor the Israelis seemed to care about civilian suffering, adding that nearly a third of the dead or wounded were children and the wounded could not be helped because roads and bridges had been cut by Israeli air strikes.
"The Israeli military attacks are all over the country. There are aerial bombardments which are in hundreds of places really. I think it is a disproportionate response, really," Mr Egeland told the BBC.
"But I also clearly see that Hezbollah is trying to blend into the civilian population in too many places and they bear also a heavy responsibility for this. They do not seem to care that they really inflict a lot of suffering on their own population," he added.
Tyre evacuation
In the southern Lebanese city of Tyre the evacuation of hundreds of foreign nationals who had been trapped by the fighting has begun.
The group, which was forced to spend the night in the open on the beachfront after the evacuation was cancelled on Wednesday, are being transferred in UN convoys to Tyre port then ferried to an awaiting passenger ship.
Many Lebanese fear that the violence could escalate further once the foreign nationals are evacuated.
"I have a very bad feeling that after the foreigners flee the bombings will get worse," Beirut resident Ziad Nayef told Reuters. "Nobody cares about Arab lives."
The Israelis say they are fighting to end the control of Hezbollah over the lives of ordinary people on both sides of the border.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the campaign against the militants would continue "as long as necessary" to free its captured soldiers and ensure Hezbollah is not a threat.
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theone666
- Major [O-4]
- Posts: 1434
- Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 5:00 am
Annan demands Lebanon ceasefire
Thursday, 20 July 2006, 21:10 GMT 22:10 UK
Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon must stop immediately, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said.
He condemned Hezbollah for sparking the latest violence in the country, but also attacked Israel for what he called its "excessive use of force".
Hezbollah's leader insisted the Israeli soldiers his group was holding would only be freed in a prisoner exchange.
Meanwhile Israel said it had agreed to let international aid into Lebanon.
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah appeared in an interview on al-Jazeera television on Thursday evening, a day after Israel said it had bombed a bunker in the south of Beirut where the Hezbollah chief might have been hiding.
He said the two soldiers captured in a cross-border raid nine days ago would not be released without a prisoner swap, to be negotiated indirectly.
Israeli soldiers are fighting militants at two places inside Lebanon's border, Israeli officials say.
Israel is also continuing air strikes, while Hezbollah fighters have been firing more rockets into northern Israel.
The Israeli army has confirmed that two of its soldiers were killed in fighting with Hezbollah inside Lebanon.
The nine-day offensive has killed at least 306 people and displaced an estimated 500,000 in Lebanon.
The fighting has left 31 Israelis dead, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
In other developments:
As many as 10,000 people have been evacuated from Lebanon on Thursday, with many nations sending both military ships and chartered vessels to remove their citizens
Mr Annan is due to hold a private meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana
Ms Rice will travel to the Middle East "as early as next week" to press for a solution to the crisis, her spokesman said.
'Time of need'
Mr Annan's call for a ceasefire followed a similar demand by the EU, which pledged 10m euros (£6.8m) in aid.
Mr Annan said the humanitarian task was "massive" and needed urgent funding, and he hoped to issue a UN flash appeal as early as next week.
In the absence of a ceasefire, it was "imperative" to establish safe aid corridors in Lebanon, Mr Annan said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has decided to open a humanitarian corridor between Lebanon and Cyprus, following a meeting with senior ministers, Israeli officials said later.
"We are not going to desert the people of Lebanon in their time of need, but we have to proceed with caution," Mr Annan told the Security Council at a briefing on the situation.
He acknowledged the UN mission that had just returned from the region had concluded there were serious obstacles to achieving a ceasefire.
He was fiercely critical of Israel and Hezbollah.
"Israel states that it has no quarrel with the government or people of Lebanon, and that it is taking extreme precautions to avoid harm to them," Mr Annan said.
"Yet a number of its actions have hurt and killed Lebanese civilians and military personnel and caused great damage to infrastructure.
"While Hezbollah's actions are deplorable, and as I've said, Israel has a right to defend itself, the excessive use of force is to be condemned."
He demanded Hezbollah release the captured soldiers immediately.
While Israel's actions were doing "little or nothing" to decrease popular support for Hezbollah in Lebanon or the region, they were doing a "great deal" to weaken the government of Lebanon, he said.
On the worsening situation for civilians in Lebanon, Mr Annan said most non-essential UN staff had been removed from the country, but that humanitarian experts were being brought in.
However the lack of access to many parts of southern Lebanon made it difficult to determine the number of people in need, he said.
'Cessation of terror'
The US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said it was time for the Security Council to start considering a response, and the US did seek a long-term end to hostilities.
But he added: "Still no-one has explained how you conduct a ceasefire with a group of terrorists".
Israel's UN ambassador Dan Gillerman said he was disturbed that Mr Annan's report had not mentioned the word "terror".
"The first thing that must be addressed is cessation of terror before we even talk about cessation of hostilities," he said.
Hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon must stop immediately, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said.
He condemned Hezbollah for sparking the latest violence in the country, but also attacked Israel for what he called its "excessive use of force".
Hezbollah's leader insisted the Israeli soldiers his group was holding would only be freed in a prisoner exchange.
Meanwhile Israel said it had agreed to let international aid into Lebanon.
Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah appeared in an interview on al-Jazeera television on Thursday evening, a day after Israel said it had bombed a bunker in the south of Beirut where the Hezbollah chief might have been hiding.
He said the two soldiers captured in a cross-border raid nine days ago would not be released without a prisoner swap, to be negotiated indirectly.
Israeli soldiers are fighting militants at two places inside Lebanon's border, Israeli officials say.
Israel is also continuing air strikes, while Hezbollah fighters have been firing more rockets into northern Israel.
The Israeli army has confirmed that two of its soldiers were killed in fighting with Hezbollah inside Lebanon.
The nine-day offensive has killed at least 306 people and displaced an estimated 500,000 in Lebanon.
The fighting has left 31 Israelis dead, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
In other developments:
As many as 10,000 people have been evacuated from Lebanon on Thursday, with many nations sending both military ships and chartered vessels to remove their citizens
Mr Annan is due to hold a private meeting with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana
Ms Rice will travel to the Middle East "as early as next week" to press for a solution to the crisis, her spokesman said.
'Time of need'
Mr Annan's call for a ceasefire followed a similar demand by the EU, which pledged 10m euros (£6.8m) in aid.
Mr Annan said the humanitarian task was "massive" and needed urgent funding, and he hoped to issue a UN flash appeal as early as next week.
In the absence of a ceasefire, it was "imperative" to establish safe aid corridors in Lebanon, Mr Annan said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has decided to open a humanitarian corridor between Lebanon and Cyprus, following a meeting with senior ministers, Israeli officials said later.
"We are not going to desert the people of Lebanon in their time of need, but we have to proceed with caution," Mr Annan told the Security Council at a briefing on the situation.
He acknowledged the UN mission that had just returned from the region had concluded there were serious obstacles to achieving a ceasefire.
He was fiercely critical of Israel and Hezbollah.
"Israel states that it has no quarrel with the government or people of Lebanon, and that it is taking extreme precautions to avoid harm to them," Mr Annan said.
"Yet a number of its actions have hurt and killed Lebanese civilians and military personnel and caused great damage to infrastructure.
"While Hezbollah's actions are deplorable, and as I've said, Israel has a right to defend itself, the excessive use of force is to be condemned."
He demanded Hezbollah release the captured soldiers immediately.
While Israel's actions were doing "little or nothing" to decrease popular support for Hezbollah in Lebanon or the region, they were doing a "great deal" to weaken the government of Lebanon, he said.
On the worsening situation for civilians in Lebanon, Mr Annan said most non-essential UN staff had been removed from the country, but that humanitarian experts were being brought in.
However the lack of access to many parts of southern Lebanon made it difficult to determine the number of people in need, he said.
'Cessation of terror'
The US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, said it was time for the Security Council to start considering a response, and the US did seek a long-term end to hostilities.
But he added: "Still no-one has explained how you conduct a ceasefire with a group of terrorists".
Israel's UN ambassador Dan Gillerman said he was disturbed that Mr Annan's report had not mentioned the word "terror".
"The first thing that must be addressed is cessation of terror before we even talk about cessation of hostilities," he said.
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theone666
- Major [O-4]
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Israeli troops killed in clashes
Thursday, 20 July 2006, 22:21 GMT 23:21 UK
Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in clashes with Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border, the Israeli army has said.
The military said the soldiers were part of an operation searching for Hezbollah militants, bases and weapons.
Several other soldiers were wounded and a number of Hezbollah fighters were killed, according to the Israeli army.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah denied reports that half of Hezbollah's arsenal had been destroyed.
Speaking on the Qatari-based satellite TV channel al-Jazeera, he said: "All of Israel's claims to have hit half of our missile potential and arsenal are nothing but erroneous words."
He also said that Hezbollah leaders had "not been touched" by Israeli attacks.
Referring to the two Israeli soldiers whose capture sparked the hostilities, Sheik Nasrallah said they would not be freed without a prisoner exchange.
"Even the whole universe would not be able to secure the release of the two Israeli soldiers unless there are indirect negotiations and an exchange of prisoners," he said.
Hezbollah says that four Israeli soldiers were killed during the clashes inside southern Lebanon on Thursday.
Two Israeli soldiers have been killed in clashes with Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border, the Israeli army has said.
The military said the soldiers were part of an operation searching for Hezbollah militants, bases and weapons.
Several other soldiers were wounded and a number of Hezbollah fighters were killed, according to the Israeli army.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah denied reports that half of Hezbollah's arsenal had been destroyed.
Speaking on the Qatari-based satellite TV channel al-Jazeera, he said: "All of Israel's claims to have hit half of our missile potential and arsenal are nothing but erroneous words."
He also said that Hezbollah leaders had "not been touched" by Israeli attacks.
Referring to the two Israeli soldiers whose capture sparked the hostilities, Sheik Nasrallah said they would not be freed without a prisoner exchange.
"Even the whole universe would not be able to secure the release of the two Israeli soldiers unless there are indirect negotiations and an exchange of prisoners," he said.
Hezbollah says that four Israeli soldiers were killed during the clashes inside southern Lebanon on Thursday.
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theone666
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Hezbollah defies Israeli pressure
Friday, 21 July 2006, 03:45 GMT 04:45 UK
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militia has said his group will only give up two captured Israeli soldiers in a prisoner exchange.
Hassan Nasrallah also told Arabic TV network al-Jazeera Israeli attacks had not dented Hezbollah's capabilities.
Israel says it has bombed a bunker used by Mr Nasrallah and has destroyed much of the militia's missile stocks.
The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called on Israel and Hezbollah to bring hostilities in Lebanon to a swift stop.
Mr Annan condemned Hezbollah for sparking the latest violence in the country, but also attacked Israel for what he called its "excessive use of force".
Israel resumed its bombardment of the southern suburbs of Beirut after nightfall on Thursday, and its air force reported bombing 40 targets.
Israel's offensive has killed at least 306 people and displaced some 500,000 in Lebanon in the last nine days.
Thirty-one Israelis have been killed in the fighting, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
In the latest incidents:
Two Israeli soldiers part of an operation searching for Hezbollah militants, bases and weapons were killed in clashes in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border on Thursday
Two Israeli Apache helicopters collided near the Lebanese border on Thursday, killing an officer and injuring four.
'Obstacle'
Mr Nasrallah told al-Jazeera TV "Hezbollah has so far remained steadfast".
He said the group had "managed to absorb the strike" and was preparing to take "the initiative" in the fight against Israel and "offer some surprises".
"All of Israel's claims to have hit half of our missile potential and arsenal are nothing but erroneous words," he said.
Hezbollah leaders, he added, had "not been touched" by Israeli attacks.
Referring to the two Israeli soldiers whose capture nine days ago sparked the hostilities, Mr Nasrallah said they would not be freed without a prisoner exchange, to be negotiated indirectly.
"Even the whole universe would not be able to secure the release of the two Israeli soldiers unless there are indirect negotiations and an exchange of prisoners," he said.
The BBC Middle East editor says Mr Nasrallah's comments present another obstacle to a diplomatic solution to the crisis in the region.
Deaf ears
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said Lebanon faces a "massive" humanitarian task that needed urgent funding.
He said he hoped to issue a UN flash appeal as early as next week.
In the absence of a ceasefire, it was "imperative" to establish safe aid corridors in Lebanon, Mr Annan said.
Israeli officials later said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had decided to open a humanitarian corridor between Lebanon and Cyprus.
But Mr Annan's calls for an immediate ceasefire have been rejected by both the US and Israel.
America's role in solving this crisis is crucial, the BBC's Jonathan Beale reports from UN headquarters in New York.
It is the one country that Israel will listen to but Washington has so far resisted growing pressure to use its considerable influence to halt Israel's military operations.
It has left the Kofi Annan frustrated, our correspondent notes.
Washington, however, is sympathetic to Mr Annan's calls to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Lebanon.
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militia has said his group will only give up two captured Israeli soldiers in a prisoner exchange.
Hassan Nasrallah also told Arabic TV network al-Jazeera Israeli attacks had not dented Hezbollah's capabilities.
Israel says it has bombed a bunker used by Mr Nasrallah and has destroyed much of the militia's missile stocks.
The UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called on Israel and Hezbollah to bring hostilities in Lebanon to a swift stop.
Mr Annan condemned Hezbollah for sparking the latest violence in the country, but also attacked Israel for what he called its "excessive use of force".
Israel resumed its bombardment of the southern suburbs of Beirut after nightfall on Thursday, and its air force reported bombing 40 targets.
Israel's offensive has killed at least 306 people and displaced some 500,000 in Lebanon in the last nine days.
Thirty-one Israelis have been killed in the fighting, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
In the latest incidents:
Two Israeli soldiers part of an operation searching for Hezbollah militants, bases and weapons were killed in clashes in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border on Thursday
Two Israeli Apache helicopters collided near the Lebanese border on Thursday, killing an officer and injuring four.
'Obstacle'
Mr Nasrallah told al-Jazeera TV "Hezbollah has so far remained steadfast".
He said the group had "managed to absorb the strike" and was preparing to take "the initiative" in the fight against Israel and "offer some surprises".
"All of Israel's claims to have hit half of our missile potential and arsenal are nothing but erroneous words," he said.
Hezbollah leaders, he added, had "not been touched" by Israeli attacks.
Referring to the two Israeli soldiers whose capture nine days ago sparked the hostilities, Mr Nasrallah said they would not be freed without a prisoner exchange, to be negotiated indirectly.
"Even the whole universe would not be able to secure the release of the two Israeli soldiers unless there are indirect negotiations and an exchange of prisoners," he said.
The BBC Middle East editor says Mr Nasrallah's comments present another obstacle to a diplomatic solution to the crisis in the region.
Deaf ears
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said Lebanon faces a "massive" humanitarian task that needed urgent funding.
He said he hoped to issue a UN flash appeal as early as next week.
In the absence of a ceasefire, it was "imperative" to establish safe aid corridors in Lebanon, Mr Annan said.
Israeli officials later said Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had decided to open a humanitarian corridor between Lebanon and Cyprus.
But Mr Annan's calls for an immediate ceasefire have been rejected by both the US and Israel.
America's role in solving this crisis is crucial, the BBC's Jonathan Beale reports from UN headquarters in New York.
It is the one country that Israel will listen to but Washington has so far resisted growing pressure to use its considerable influence to halt Israel's military operations.
It has left the Kofi Annan frustrated, our correspondent notes.
Washington, however, is sympathetic to Mr Annan's calls to provide humanitarian aid to the people of Lebanon.
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theone666
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Hezbollah leader apologizes for attack's child victims
Thursday, July 20, 2006; Posted: 10:28 p.m. EDT (02:28 GMT)
(CNN) -- Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah apologized for an attack that killed two Israeli Arab children in northern Israel, saying the youngsters were "martyrs for Palestine."
In a Thursday interview with Arabic-language news network Al-Jazeera, Nasrallah accepted responsibility for the Wednesday attack, while conceding that an apology to the family was not sufficient.
"To the family that was hit in Nazareth -- on my behalf and my brothers', I apologize to this family," he said.
"Some events like that happen. At any event, those who were killed in Nazareth, we consider them martyrs for Palestine and martyrs for the nation. I pay my condolences to them."
As volleys of Hezbollah rockets have soared across the border for the last nine days, Israel has pounded Lebanon with artillery and airstrikes. Despite Israeli claims to the contrary, Nasrallah said the attacks have failed to faze Hezbollah politically or militarily.
"I can say at this moment, and assure without exaggeration, without psychological warfare, just facts, that the political leadership of Hezbollah has not been harmed," Nasrallah said. (Watch Nasrallah promise Hezbollah 'surprises' -- 1:17)
The Israeli military said Wednesday that it dropped 23 tons of bombs on a bunker housing Hezbollah senior leadership. On Thursday, the military said it estimated that its days of attacks had destroyed about half of Hezbollah's military assets.
Both claims are false, Nasrallah said.
"They are unable, up until this moment, to do anything to harm us, and I assure you of that," he said. "Hezbollah has stood fast and absorbed the strike and now is going to initiate and will deliver surprises that it promises. We keep other things for ourselves that we'll do later on."
He did say, however, that Hezbollah leaders' homes have been destroyed and their families displaced. On the other hand, several Israeli spies have been seized, he said.
Technical and intelligence failures have caused the Israeli military to strike the wrong targets, he said.
Asked if he was downplaying Hezbollah losses, Nasrallah flatly denied it.
"We don't hide our martyrs. Throughout history, we have not done so," he said. "You know Lebanon. There are no secrets in Lebanon."
After Israel announced that it had struck the bunker, Hezbollah said on its Al-Manar television station that Israel had hit an under-construction mosque, but caused no casualties.
Hezbollah, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel but is lauded by many Lebanese for its social endeavors, became the target of Israeli assaults after the group's guerillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed three others during a cross-border raid July 12.
Though Israel has struck what it calls strategic points throughout Lebanon -- including airports, docks, roads, bridges and Hezbollah political offices -- Nasrallah said Thursday that his group is still operating calmly and methodically. (Watch Israeli pilots describe strikes -- 1:54)
Though some Israeli troops have crossed into Lebanon, Nasrallah said that a ground war had yet to begin.
"Fighters on the ground, up to now, they have not even begun," he said. "Our fighters who are present at the border, they have not made a great effort in the past few days."
(CNN) -- Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah apologized for an attack that killed two Israeli Arab children in northern Israel, saying the youngsters were "martyrs for Palestine."
In a Thursday interview with Arabic-language news network Al-Jazeera, Nasrallah accepted responsibility for the Wednesday attack, while conceding that an apology to the family was not sufficient.
"To the family that was hit in Nazareth -- on my behalf and my brothers', I apologize to this family," he said.
"Some events like that happen. At any event, those who were killed in Nazareth, we consider them martyrs for Palestine and martyrs for the nation. I pay my condolences to them."
As volleys of Hezbollah rockets have soared across the border for the last nine days, Israel has pounded Lebanon with artillery and airstrikes. Despite Israeli claims to the contrary, Nasrallah said the attacks have failed to faze Hezbollah politically or militarily.
"I can say at this moment, and assure without exaggeration, without psychological warfare, just facts, that the political leadership of Hezbollah has not been harmed," Nasrallah said. (Watch Nasrallah promise Hezbollah 'surprises' -- 1:17)
The Israeli military said Wednesday that it dropped 23 tons of bombs on a bunker housing Hezbollah senior leadership. On Thursday, the military said it estimated that its days of attacks had destroyed about half of Hezbollah's military assets.
Both claims are false, Nasrallah said.
"They are unable, up until this moment, to do anything to harm us, and I assure you of that," he said. "Hezbollah has stood fast and absorbed the strike and now is going to initiate and will deliver surprises that it promises. We keep other things for ourselves that we'll do later on."
He did say, however, that Hezbollah leaders' homes have been destroyed and their families displaced. On the other hand, several Israeli spies have been seized, he said.
Technical and intelligence failures have caused the Israeli military to strike the wrong targets, he said.
Asked if he was downplaying Hezbollah losses, Nasrallah flatly denied it.
"We don't hide our martyrs. Throughout history, we have not done so," he said. "You know Lebanon. There are no secrets in Lebanon."
After Israel announced that it had struck the bunker, Hezbollah said on its Al-Manar television station that Israel had hit an under-construction mosque, but caused no casualties.
Hezbollah, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel but is lauded by many Lebanese for its social endeavors, became the target of Israeli assaults after the group's guerillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed three others during a cross-border raid July 12.
Though Israel has struck what it calls strategic points throughout Lebanon -- including airports, docks, roads, bridges and Hezbollah political offices -- Nasrallah said Thursday that his group is still operating calmly and methodically. (Watch Israeli pilots describe strikes -- 1:54)
Though some Israeli troops have crossed into Lebanon, Nasrallah said that a ground war had yet to begin.
"Fighters on the ground, up to now, they have not even begun," he said. "Our fighters who are present at the border, they have not made a great effort in the past few days."
-
theone666
- Major [O-4]
- Posts: 1434
- Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 5:00 am
'Israeli fire' kills four in Gaza
Friday, 21 July 2006, 04:35 GMT 05:35 UK
Four Palestinians have been killed in a blast in Gaza City that witnesses say was caused by an Israeli tank shell.
The house targeted in the blast, in the Shajaiyeh district, reportedly belonged to Hamas activists, locals quoted by the Associated Press news agency said.
At least three people are said to have been hurt in the explosion.
Israel launched its military offensive in the Gaza Strip three weeks ago after a soldier was captured by militants linked to Hamas's military wing.
Cpl Gilad Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid near the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military has not confirmed its involvement in the latest incident.
Hamas sources said the blast had killed a militant from their group, as well as his mother and two of her grandchildren.
According to Palestinian security officials, Israeli tanks had been moving around the Shajaiyeh neighbourhood, which lies near the border with Israel.
They said Israeli helicopters had also attacked the area.
Four Palestinians have been killed in a blast in Gaza City that witnesses say was caused by an Israeli tank shell.
The house targeted in the blast, in the Shajaiyeh district, reportedly belonged to Hamas activists, locals quoted by the Associated Press news agency said.
At least three people are said to have been hurt in the explosion.
Israel launched its military offensive in the Gaza Strip three weeks ago after a soldier was captured by militants linked to Hamas's military wing.
Cpl Gilad Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid near the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli military has not confirmed its involvement in the latest incident.
Hamas sources said the blast had killed a militant from their group, as well as his mother and two of her grandchildren.
According to Palestinian security officials, Israeli tanks had been moving around the Shajaiyeh neighbourhood, which lies near the border with Israel.
They said Israeli helicopters had also attacked the area.
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theone666
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Israeli air force pounds Beirut
Friday, 21 July 2006, 07:48 GMT 08:48 UK
Israel is continuing its Lebanon military offensive, bombing more than 40 targets, mainly in southern Beirut, in the early hours of Friday.
Troops are also fighting Hezbollah militants inside the Lebanese border.
The Israeli army says four of its soldiers were killed and several others hurt in those clashes, but that there were also Hezbollah casualties.
Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah has appeared on TV, saying Israel has not dented the group's capabilities.
'Ambulances targeted'
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the number of Lebanese killed in the 10 days of violence was more than 330.
In an interview with CNN he said that more than 55 bridges had been destroyed, and that Israeli forces had also targeted ambulances and medical convoys.
"This attack is no longer against Hezbollah, it is an attack against the Lebanese and Lebanon," he said.
Bombed-out roads and bridges are hampering aid efforts and on Thursday the UN warned that the humanitarian crisis was worsening by the hour. About 500,000 people are believed to have been internally displaced by the conflict.
Thirty-four Israelis have been killed in the fighting, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
Reserves called up
The BBC's Tim Franks in Israel says that on the ground Israeli forces are pushing further into Lebanon in an attempt apparently to flush out well-camouflaged Hezbollah positions.
The Israeli army continues to describe these operations as "pin-point", involving fewer than a thousand troops.
However, reports in the Israeli media say that several thousand have already been deployed and that large numbers of reserves have been called up.
Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has warned that Israel is prepared to launch a full-scale ground operation if necessary.
"Let no terror organisation feel we would cower from any operation," he said. "We have no intention of conquering Lebanon but... we will do it without thinking twice."
UN appeal
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called on Israel and Hezbollah to bring hostilities in Lebanon to a swift stop.
Mr Annan condemned Hezbollah for sparking the latest violence in the country, but also attacked Israel for what he called its "excessive use of force".
The crisis was triggered by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants on 12 July.
In an interview with Arabic TV network al-Jazeera Sheikh Nasrallah said his group would give up the Israeli soldiers only in a prisoner exchange.
"Even the whole universe would not be able to secure the release of the two Israeli soldiers unless there are indirect negotiations and an exchange of prisoners," he said.
'Leadership intact'
Sheikh Nasrallah also said that the Israeli attacks had not dented Hezbollah's capabilities, saying: "Hezbollah has so far remained steadfast."
Israel says it has bombed a bunker used by Mr Nasrallah and has destroyed much of the militia's missile stocks.
He said the group had "managed to absorb the strike" and was preparing to take "the initiative" in the fight against Israel and "offer some surprises".
"All of Israel's claims to have hit half of our missile potential and arsenal are nothing but erroneous words," he said.
Hezbollah leaders, he added, had "not been touched" by Israeli attacks.
The BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, says Sheikh Nasrallah's comments present another obstacle to a diplomatic solution to the crisis in the region.
Meanwhile, the evacuation of foreign nationals from Lebanon continues, with thousands more expected to arrive in Cyprus on Friday.
About 1,300 British nationals have arrived in Cyprus after being evacuated on a Royal Navy ship, HMS Bulwark.
And about 1,000 US citizens have also disembarked there from the USS Nashville after being rescued by US marines on Thursday.
Israel is continuing its Lebanon military offensive, bombing more than 40 targets, mainly in southern Beirut, in the early hours of Friday.
Troops are also fighting Hezbollah militants inside the Lebanese border.
The Israeli army says four of its soldiers were killed and several others hurt in those clashes, but that there were also Hezbollah casualties.
Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah has appeared on TV, saying Israel has not dented the group's capabilities.
'Ambulances targeted'
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the number of Lebanese killed in the 10 days of violence was more than 330.
In an interview with CNN he said that more than 55 bridges had been destroyed, and that Israeli forces had also targeted ambulances and medical convoys.
"This attack is no longer against Hezbollah, it is an attack against the Lebanese and Lebanon," he said.
Bombed-out roads and bridges are hampering aid efforts and on Thursday the UN warned that the humanitarian crisis was worsening by the hour. About 500,000 people are believed to have been internally displaced by the conflict.
Thirty-four Israelis have been killed in the fighting, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
Reserves called up
The BBC's Tim Franks in Israel says that on the ground Israeli forces are pushing further into Lebanon in an attempt apparently to flush out well-camouflaged Hezbollah positions.
The Israeli army continues to describe these operations as "pin-point", involving fewer than a thousand troops.
However, reports in the Israeli media say that several thousand have already been deployed and that large numbers of reserves have been called up.
Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz has warned that Israel is prepared to launch a full-scale ground operation if necessary.
"Let no terror organisation feel we would cower from any operation," he said. "We have no intention of conquering Lebanon but... we will do it without thinking twice."
UN appeal
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called on Israel and Hezbollah to bring hostilities in Lebanon to a swift stop.
Mr Annan condemned Hezbollah for sparking the latest violence in the country, but also attacked Israel for what he called its "excessive use of force".
The crisis was triggered by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants on 12 July.
In an interview with Arabic TV network al-Jazeera Sheikh Nasrallah said his group would give up the Israeli soldiers only in a prisoner exchange.
"Even the whole universe would not be able to secure the release of the two Israeli soldiers unless there are indirect negotiations and an exchange of prisoners," he said.
'Leadership intact'
Sheikh Nasrallah also said that the Israeli attacks had not dented Hezbollah's capabilities, saying: "Hezbollah has so far remained steadfast."
Israel says it has bombed a bunker used by Mr Nasrallah and has destroyed much of the militia's missile stocks.
He said the group had "managed to absorb the strike" and was preparing to take "the initiative" in the fight against Israel and "offer some surprises".
"All of Israel's claims to have hit half of our missile potential and arsenal are nothing but erroneous words," he said.
Hezbollah leaders, he added, had "not been touched" by Israeli attacks.
The BBC's Middle East editor, Jeremy Bowen, says Sheikh Nasrallah's comments present another obstacle to a diplomatic solution to the crisis in the region.
Meanwhile, the evacuation of foreign nationals from Lebanon continues, with thousands more expected to arrive in Cyprus on Friday.
About 1,300 British nationals have arrived in Cyprus after being evacuated on a Royal Navy ship, HMS Bulwark.
And about 1,000 US citizens have also disembarked there from the USS Nashville after being rescued by US marines on Thursday.
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theone666
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- Posts: 1434
- Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 5:00 am
Israel Masses Troops on Lebanese Border
By BENJAMIN HARVEY, AP
BEIRUT, Lebanon (July 21) - Israel massed tanks and troops on the border Friday hours after calling up reserves, as the army announced plans for a ground operation to destroy Hezbollah's tunnels, hideouts and weapons stashes.
With Hezbollah's rocket attacks and Israeli bombings undiminished, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she would visit the Middle East beginning Sunday - her first trip to the region since the crisis erupted 10 days ago. But she ruled out a quick cease-fire between Israel and the Shiite guerrillas as a "false promise."
Israel, which pulled its troops out of Lebanon just six years ago after a lengthy and costly occupation that caused painful divisions within the Jewish state, was poised to carry out its third large-scale ground operation in Lebanon since 1978. This time, however, the Israelis signaled they did not want to stay long.
Israel hopes the operation will end in the neutralization of Hezbollah. But the operation carries great risks for the country and the region. If Lebanon's weak central government is undermined, it could immerse the country again into disorder and ignite fresh passions in many Arab countries against Israel and the United States.
On Friday, the Israeli army confirmed that small units have been operating in Lebanon for days. An official from the U.N. monitoring force in south Lebanon said 300 to 500 Israeli troops were believed to be in the western sector of the border, backed by as many as 30 tanks - a likely precursor to a larger ground force that Israel could use to sweep Hezbollah out of the area.
Israel's goal is not to create a buffer zone as it did during its occupation of southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000, said a senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the topic's military sensitivity.
Rather, Israel wants to weaken Hezbollah with a limited ground operation to make it easier for the Lebanese army to move into areas previously controlled by the guerrillas, possibly with the aid of a beefed-up international peacekeeping force, the official said.
On Friday, Israel knocked out a key bridge on the road to Syria and pummeled Hezbollah positions in the south as long lines of tanks and armored personnel carriers lined up at the border - in some places close enough to see Lebanese homes on the other side.
A barrage of 11 Hezbollah rockets rained down again on Israel's third-largest city, the northern port of Haifa, wounding at least five people, two seriously. The army said rockets also hit Rosh Pina, Safed and communities near the Sea of Galilee.
Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets at northern Israeli towns from north of the Lebanese border, killing 16 civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands of Israelis to flee repeatedly into bunkers.
Rice plans meetings in Jerusalem and the West Bank with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as sessions in Rome with representatives of European and moderate Arab governments that are meant to shore up the weak democratic government in Lebanon's capital, Beirut.
"We do seek an end to the current violence, we seek it urgently. We also seek to address the root causes of that violence," Rice said - a reference to the U.S. position that Hezbollah must not be allowed to rule southern Lebanon with impunity. The group's capture of two Israeli soldiers in a bloody cross-border raid on July 12 touched off Israel's heaviest bombardment of Lebanon in 24 years.
In south Lebanon, soldiers buried 72 people killed in recent bombings in a mass grave just outside a barracks in the city of Tyre. Volunteers put the bodies, many of them children, in wooden coffins and spray-painted the names of the dead on the lids.
Ships lined up at Beirut's port as a massive evacuation effort to pull out Americans and other foreigners picked up speed. U.S. officials said more than 8,000 of the roughly 25,000 Americans in Lebanon would be evacuated by the weekend.
France, the United Nations and Red Cross painted a dire portrait of life for civilians trapped in the south or forced to flee their homes there. They demanded Israel open humanitarian corridors to allow life's necessities - shelter, food, water and medicine - to reach the swelling numbers of displaced people - an estimated half-million.
At the United Nations, Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said he expected a humanitarian corridor for food, medicine and other supplies to be opened later Friday or Saturday.
Responding to a U.S. request, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said French aid would be allowed into Lebanon's port of Sidon.
U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland told the U.N. Security Council that "it is estimated that Beirut only has days of fuel supplies remaining."
The Lebanese health ministry reported 362 deaths in Lebanon so far in the onslaught, an increase of 55 since it released figures on Thursday. Thirty-four Israelis also have been killed, including 18 soldiers and an air force officer killed Friday in the collision of two helicopters.
Al-Arabiyah television reported that Israeli troops found the body of a fellow soldier in south Lebanon who was killed in clashes the day before in which four other soldiers died.
The count of 362 includes six Hezbollah fighters that the group has confirmed were killed, including three who died Friday. Israel's army chief of staff said Friday that nearly 100 Hezbollah guerrillas have been killed in the offensive in Lebanon.
The Lebanese toll was expected to rise with heavy Israeli strikes on Friday in Shiite regions of the country's south and east. In the southern towns of Nabatiyeh and Aytaroun, buildings were leveled - including one on a commercial street - killing at least one person. But rescue crews were too afraid of the continuing waves of strikes to search for more dead or wounded trapped in the rubble.
Israel warplanes also continued their bombing to cut off roads, collapsing part of a suspension bridge linking two mountain peaks on the Beirut-Damascus highway in central Lebanon, which has already been heavily hit.
Three U.N.-run positions near the border were struck. One post on the Israeli side was hit and severely damaged, though the Ghanian troops inside were safely in shelters. A U.N. officer said it was hit by an Israeli artillery shell, but Israel said Hezbollah rockets struck it.
Two more U.N. positions on the Lebanese side took direct hits from Israeli artillery, also causing damage but no casualties, the U.N. observer force said.
Beirut was swelling with refugees from the south as well as from its own Shiite southern neighborhoods, heavily hit by Israeli strikes. They piled up by the hundreds in parks and schools, those with enough money staying in hotels.
But after 10 days, Beirutis - enured by past wars - were emerging increasingly from their homes, fed up with staying indoors even as the conflict looked ready to escalate. More shops on downtown Hamra Street were open, and in the evening families, including many southern refugees, were strolling along the seafront, kids roller-blading, young men smoking water-pipes.
Israel's army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said the military would conduct "limited ground operations as much as needed in order to harm the terror that harms us" - leaving it unclear how deep and how powerful the Israeli punch into Lebanon would be. Israel on Friday called up several thousand reservists to free up regular troops for duty in the north.
"We will fight terror wherever it is because if we do not fight it, it will fight us. If we don't reach it, it will reach us," he told a nationally televised news conference.
But the time Israel has to achieve its goals could be limited by mounting civilian casualties, as international tolerance for the bloodshed and destruction runs out.
Associated Press Writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Gabe Ross in Haifa, Israel, contributed to this story.
7/21/2006 18:31:26 EST
BEIRUT, Lebanon (July 21) - Israel massed tanks and troops on the border Friday hours after calling up reserves, as the army announced plans for a ground operation to destroy Hezbollah's tunnels, hideouts and weapons stashes.
With Hezbollah's rocket attacks and Israeli bombings undiminished, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she would visit the Middle East beginning Sunday - her first trip to the region since the crisis erupted 10 days ago. But she ruled out a quick cease-fire between Israel and the Shiite guerrillas as a "false promise."
Israel, which pulled its troops out of Lebanon just six years ago after a lengthy and costly occupation that caused painful divisions within the Jewish state, was poised to carry out its third large-scale ground operation in Lebanon since 1978. This time, however, the Israelis signaled they did not want to stay long.
Israel hopes the operation will end in the neutralization of Hezbollah. But the operation carries great risks for the country and the region. If Lebanon's weak central government is undermined, it could immerse the country again into disorder and ignite fresh passions in many Arab countries against Israel and the United States.
On Friday, the Israeli army confirmed that small units have been operating in Lebanon for days. An official from the U.N. monitoring force in south Lebanon said 300 to 500 Israeli troops were believed to be in the western sector of the border, backed by as many as 30 tanks - a likely precursor to a larger ground force that Israel could use to sweep Hezbollah out of the area.
Israel's goal is not to create a buffer zone as it did during its occupation of southern Lebanon from 1982 to 2000, said a senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the topic's military sensitivity.
Rather, Israel wants to weaken Hezbollah with a limited ground operation to make it easier for the Lebanese army to move into areas previously controlled by the guerrillas, possibly with the aid of a beefed-up international peacekeeping force, the official said.
On Friday, Israel knocked out a key bridge on the road to Syria and pummeled Hezbollah positions in the south as long lines of tanks and armored personnel carriers lined up at the border - in some places close enough to see Lebanese homes on the other side.
A barrage of 11 Hezbollah rockets rained down again on Israel's third-largest city, the northern port of Haifa, wounding at least five people, two seriously. The army said rockets also hit Rosh Pina, Safed and communities near the Sea of Galilee.
Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets at northern Israeli towns from north of the Lebanese border, killing 16 civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands of Israelis to flee repeatedly into bunkers.
Rice plans meetings in Jerusalem and the West Bank with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, as well as sessions in Rome with representatives of European and moderate Arab governments that are meant to shore up the weak democratic government in Lebanon's capital, Beirut.
"We do seek an end to the current violence, we seek it urgently. We also seek to address the root causes of that violence," Rice said - a reference to the U.S. position that Hezbollah must not be allowed to rule southern Lebanon with impunity. The group's capture of two Israeli soldiers in a bloody cross-border raid on July 12 touched off Israel's heaviest bombardment of Lebanon in 24 years.
In south Lebanon, soldiers buried 72 people killed in recent bombings in a mass grave just outside a barracks in the city of Tyre. Volunteers put the bodies, many of them children, in wooden coffins and spray-painted the names of the dead on the lids.
Ships lined up at Beirut's port as a massive evacuation effort to pull out Americans and other foreigners picked up speed. U.S. officials said more than 8,000 of the roughly 25,000 Americans in Lebanon would be evacuated by the weekend.
France, the United Nations and Red Cross painted a dire portrait of life for civilians trapped in the south or forced to flee their homes there. They demanded Israel open humanitarian corridors to allow life's necessities - shelter, food, water and medicine - to reach the swelling numbers of displaced people - an estimated half-million.
At the United Nations, Israeli Ambassador Dan Gillerman said he expected a humanitarian corridor for food, medicine and other supplies to be opened later Friday or Saturday.
Responding to a U.S. request, Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said French aid would be allowed into Lebanon's port of Sidon.
U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland told the U.N. Security Council that "it is estimated that Beirut only has days of fuel supplies remaining."
The Lebanese health ministry reported 362 deaths in Lebanon so far in the onslaught, an increase of 55 since it released figures on Thursday. Thirty-four Israelis also have been killed, including 18 soldiers and an air force officer killed Friday in the collision of two helicopters.
Al-Arabiyah television reported that Israeli troops found the body of a fellow soldier in south Lebanon who was killed in clashes the day before in which four other soldiers died.
The count of 362 includes six Hezbollah fighters that the group has confirmed were killed, including three who died Friday. Israel's army chief of staff said Friday that nearly 100 Hezbollah guerrillas have been killed in the offensive in Lebanon.
The Lebanese toll was expected to rise with heavy Israeli strikes on Friday in Shiite regions of the country's south and east. In the southern towns of Nabatiyeh and Aytaroun, buildings were leveled - including one on a commercial street - killing at least one person. But rescue crews were too afraid of the continuing waves of strikes to search for more dead or wounded trapped in the rubble.
Israel warplanes also continued their bombing to cut off roads, collapsing part of a suspension bridge linking two mountain peaks on the Beirut-Damascus highway in central Lebanon, which has already been heavily hit.
Three U.N.-run positions near the border were struck. One post on the Israeli side was hit and severely damaged, though the Ghanian troops inside were safely in shelters. A U.N. officer said it was hit by an Israeli artillery shell, but Israel said Hezbollah rockets struck it.
Two more U.N. positions on the Lebanese side took direct hits from Israeli artillery, also causing damage but no casualties, the U.N. observer force said.
Beirut was swelling with refugees from the south as well as from its own Shiite southern neighborhoods, heavily hit by Israeli strikes. They piled up by the hundreds in parks and schools, those with enough money staying in hotels.
But after 10 days, Beirutis - enured by past wars - were emerging increasingly from their homes, fed up with staying indoors even as the conflict looked ready to escalate. More shops on downtown Hamra Street were open, and in the evening families, including many southern refugees, were strolling along the seafront, kids roller-blading, young men smoking water-pipes.
Israel's army chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, said the military would conduct "limited ground operations as much as needed in order to harm the terror that harms us" - leaving it unclear how deep and how powerful the Israeli punch into Lebanon would be. Israel on Friday called up several thousand reservists to free up regular troops for duty in the north.
"We will fight terror wherever it is because if we do not fight it, it will fight us. If we don't reach it, it will reach us," he told a nationally televised news conference.
But the time Israel has to achieve its goals could be limited by mounting civilian casualties, as international tolerance for the bloodshed and destruction runs out.
Associated Press Writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Gabe Ross in Haifa, Israel, contributed to this story.
7/21/2006 18:31:26 EST
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theone666
- Major [O-4]
- Posts: 1434
- Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 5:00 am
Israelis mass on Lebanese border
Friday, 21 July 2006, 23:36 GMT 00:36 UK
Israel has massed soldiers and tanks on the border with Lebanon and called up thousands of reserve troops, in a possible prelude to a ground offensive.
Planes dropped leaflets on southern Lebanon warning any civilians to leave.
Israeli soldiers are already fighting Hezbollah inside Lebanon, but the army chief of staff said any incursion into the country would be limited in scope.
The US secretary of state is to travel to the Middle East on Sunday in an attempt to resolve the crisis.
Condoleezza Rice said she was seeking an "endurable peace" - but not an immediate ceasefire that would return the region to the pre-conflict era.
The crisis was triggered by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants on 12 July.
The tenth day of fighting saw fresh Israeli air raids and shelling and Hezbollah rocket-fire on Israel's city of Haifa.
In other developments:
Italy will host an international conference on the crisis next Wednesday
Israel's military chief said the country's forces had killed nearly 100 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon
Top UK aid agencies united to call for a ceasefire
The evacuation of foreign nationals from Lebanon continued.
Bulldozer burials
The call-up has widened speculation the Israeli army is preparing for a major ground offensive, after days of what they call "restricted pinpoint attacks" into southern Lebanon in search of Hezbollah weapons and facilities.
Correspondents in Jerusalem say it is understood the Israeli reservists being called up could fill in for troops in the West Bank and Gaza, releasing other soldiers to go up to the northern front.
Hundreds of armoured vehicles are backed up south of the Lebanese border.
However, Israeli army chief of staff Dan Halutz said they would "conduct limited ground operations as much as needed" to "harm the terror that harms us".
Senior Lebanese officials said the country's army would go into battle if Israel invaded Lebanon.
The call-up came as residents of southern Lebanon continued to flee the area, and in the city of Tyre a bulldozer was used to bury 80 people killed in the region.
The regional capital of south Lebanon, Sidon, says about 28,000 internally displaced people have already crammed into the small sea port - and it is becoming dangerously overcrowded.
Sidon's mayor has warned that food, medicines, water and accommodation are running out.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the number of Lebanese killed in the 10 days of violence is now more than 330.
In northern Israel, two fresh waves of Hezbollah rockets hit the city of Haifa, causing at least 15 injuries.
Three were injured, though none seriously, when a rocket landed on a post office on Masarik square.
Thirty-four Israelis have been killed in the fighting, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
Israel has massed soldiers and tanks on the border with Lebanon and called up thousands of reserve troops, in a possible prelude to a ground offensive.
Planes dropped leaflets on southern Lebanon warning any civilians to leave.
Israeli soldiers are already fighting Hezbollah inside Lebanon, but the army chief of staff said any incursion into the country would be limited in scope.
The US secretary of state is to travel to the Middle East on Sunday in an attempt to resolve the crisis.
Condoleezza Rice said she was seeking an "endurable peace" - but not an immediate ceasefire that would return the region to the pre-conflict era.
The crisis was triggered by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants on 12 July.
The tenth day of fighting saw fresh Israeli air raids and shelling and Hezbollah rocket-fire on Israel's city of Haifa.
In other developments:
Italy will host an international conference on the crisis next Wednesday
Israel's military chief said the country's forces had killed nearly 100 Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon
Top UK aid agencies united to call for a ceasefire
The evacuation of foreign nationals from Lebanon continued.
Bulldozer burials
The call-up has widened speculation the Israeli army is preparing for a major ground offensive, after days of what they call "restricted pinpoint attacks" into southern Lebanon in search of Hezbollah weapons and facilities.
Correspondents in Jerusalem say it is understood the Israeli reservists being called up could fill in for troops in the West Bank and Gaza, releasing other soldiers to go up to the northern front.
Hundreds of armoured vehicles are backed up south of the Lebanese border.
However, Israeli army chief of staff Dan Halutz said they would "conduct limited ground operations as much as needed" to "harm the terror that harms us".
Senior Lebanese officials said the country's army would go into battle if Israel invaded Lebanon.
The call-up came as residents of southern Lebanon continued to flee the area, and in the city of Tyre a bulldozer was used to bury 80 people killed in the region.
The regional capital of south Lebanon, Sidon, says about 28,000 internally displaced people have already crammed into the small sea port - and it is becoming dangerously overcrowded.
Sidon's mayor has warned that food, medicines, water and accommodation are running out.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said the number of Lebanese killed in the 10 days of violence is now more than 330.
In northern Israel, two fresh waves of Hezbollah rockets hit the city of Haifa, causing at least 15 injuries.
Three were injured, though none seriously, when a rocket landed on a post office on Masarik square.
Thirty-four Israelis have been killed in the fighting, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
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theone666
- Major [O-4]
- Posts: 1434
- Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 5:00 am
Israeli Forces Poised to Invade Lebanon
By SAM F. GHATTAS, AP
BEIRUT, Lebanon (July 21) - Israel massed tanks and troops on the border, called up reserves and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon as it prepared Friday for a likely ground invasion.
The Israeli army confirmed some of its troops have been operating in Lebanon for days although no major incursion has been launched.
An official from the U.N. monitoring force in south Lebanon, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press, told The Associated Press in Beirut that between 300 and 500 troops are believed to be in the western sector of the border, backed by as many as 30 tanks.
Israeli forces would conduct ground operations as needed in Lebanon, but they would be "limited," Israeli army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said. He also said nearly 100 Hezbollah guerrillas have been killed in the offensive in Lebanon.
"We will fight terror wherever it is because if we do not fight it, it will fight us. If we don't reach it, it will reach us," Halutz said at a news conference in Tel Aviv. "We will also conduct limited ground operations as much as needed in order to harm the terror that harms us."
Israeli will allow aid supplies into Lebanon, an envoy said, a day after the United Nations warned of a growing humanitarian crisis following 10 days of the heaviest bombardment of the country in 24 years.
Hezbollah militants fired 11 rockets at Israel's port city of Haifa, wounding five. Israeli warplanes pounded the Beirut-to-Damascus highway, collapsing part of Lebanon's longest bridge. A U.N.-run observation post near the border was hit, but no one was hurt.
Ships lined up at Beirut's port as a massive evacuation of Americans and other foreigners picked up speed. U.S. officials said about 5,000 Americans left Friday, bringing the total evacuated to more than 8,000. Roughly 25,000 Americans were in Lebanon when the fighting began.
As sunset approached, lines of tanks, troops, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers were parked on a two-lane highway in northern Israel - close enough for some soldiers to see Lebanese villages and homes.
A senior Israeli military official said it intends to destroy Hezbollah's tunnels, hideouts, weapons caches and other assets during its expected land incursions into southern Lebanon, not create a buffer zone as it did during its 1982-2000 occupation.
The goal is to weaken Hezbollah so that the Lebanese army can move into areas previously controlled by the guerrillas, possibly with the aid of an increased international peacekeeping force, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the topic dealt with sensitive military matters.
Mounting civilian casualties and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese could limit the time Israel has to achieve its goals, as international tolerance for the bloodshed and destruction runs out.
An Israeli military radio station warned residents of 12 border villages in southern Lebanon to leave before 2 p.m. Friday.
At least 335 people have been killed in Lebanon in the Israeli campaign, according to the Lebanese health minister. Thirty-four Israelis also have been killed, including 19 soldiers.
Lebanese soldiers buried 72 people killed in recent bombings in a mass grave just outside a barracks in the southern city of Tyre. Volunteers put the bodies, many of them children, in wooden coffins and spray-painted the names of the dead on the lids.
The United States - which has resisted calls to press its ally to halt the fighting - was sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Mideast on Sunday. She ruled out a quick cease-fire as a "false promise" and said "Hezbollah is the source of the problem."
The mission would be the first U.S. diplomatic effort on the ground since the Israeli onslaught against Lebanon began.
Israeli U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman said he expected a corridor for food, medicine and other supplies to be opened later Friday or Saturday. His remarks came as French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy called for safe passage of urgent aid his country was sending.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned Thursday of a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and called for an immediate cease-fire, even as he admitted "serious obstacles" stand in the way of easing the violence.
He told CNN later that the conflict had created 700,000 refugees, most of them remaining in Lebanon, where the destruction has made access and treatment difficult. "I'm afraid of a major humanitarian disaster," he said.
The price of food, medical supplies and gasoline rose as much as 500 percent in parts of Lebanon as the bombardment cut supply routes. The U.N. estimated that a half-million people have been displaced, with 130,000 fleeing to Syria and 45,000 believed to be in need of assistance.
Top Israeli officials said Israel won't stop its offensive until Hezbollah is forced behind the Litani River, 20 miles north of the border - creating a new buffer zone in a region that saw 18 years of Israeli presence since 1982.
As Israel stepped up its small forays over the border to seek Hezbollah positions, rocket stores and bunkers, it has faced tough resistance.
Israeli warplanes fired missiles that partially collapsed a 1.6-mile suspension bridge linking two steep mountain peaks in central Lebanon. The bridge has been hit several times since fighting began.
The bombing also set ablaze three buses that had just dropped off passengers in Syria, but the drivers escaped, police said.
Renewed attacks struck the ancient city of Baalbek, a major Hezbollah stronghold, and security officials said two people were killed and 19 wounded. Hezbollah strongholds in south Beirut and elsewhere also were struck overnight, killing one person. Missiles hit a village near the Israeli border, Aita al-Shaab, killing three, officials said.
A house in the border village of Aitaroun was flattened, with 10 people believed inside, but rescuers couldn't reach it because of shelling, security officials said.
At least 11 rockets hit Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, and five people were wounded, with 23 treated for shock. More rockets fell elsewhere in northern Israel, the army said, with strikes reported in Rosh Pina, Safed and in several communities near the Sea of Galilee.
Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets from the Lebanese border since fighting began, forcing Israelis into underground shelters. Eight people in Haifa were killed July 16.
A U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said an artillery shell fired by the Israeli military made "a direct hit on the U.N. position overlooking Zarit."
An Israeli military spokesman said the rockets were fired by Hezbollah guerrillas at northern Israel. The differing accounts could not immediately be reconciled.
During an Israeli offensive against Lebanon in 1996, artillery blasted a U.N. base at Qana in southern Lebanon, killing more than 100 civilians taking refuge with the peacekeepers.
The U.N. mission, which has nearly 2,000 military personnel and more than 300 civilians, is to patrol the border line, known as the Blue Line, drawn by the U.N. after Israel withdrew troops from south Lebanon in 2000, ending an 18-year occupation.
Two Apache attack helicopters collided in northern Israel near the border, killing one air force officer and injuring three others, Israeli officials said. Israel's air force began an investigation.
Hezbollah said three of its fighters had been killed in the latest fighting, bringing to six the number killed since Israel began its campaign after the militant Shiite Muslim group captured two of its soldiers July 12.
Annan denounced Israel for "excessive use of force" and Hezbollah for holding "an entire nation hostage" with its rocket attacks and capturing the Israeli soldiers.
The number of reserves called up by the Israeli army was not disclosed, but a military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said it would be several thousand.
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah shrugged off concerns of a stepped-up Israeli onslaught, saying the captive Israelis would be freed only as part of a prisoner exchange.
He spoke in an interview taped Thursday with Al-Jazeera to show he had survived an airstrike in south Beirut that Israel said targeted a Hezbollah leadership bunker. The guerrillas said the strike only hit a mosque under construction and no one was hurt.
Lebanese streamed north into Beirut and other regions, crowding into schools, relatives' homes or hotels. Taxi drivers in the south were charging up to $400 per person for rides to Beirut - more than 40 times the usual price. In remote villages of the south, cut off by strikes, residents made their way out over the mountains by foot.
More than 400,000 people - perhaps as many as a half-million - are believed to live south of the Litani, according to former top U.N. adviser Timur Goskel. The river has twice been the border of Israeli buffer zones. In 1978, Israel invaded up to the Litani to drive back Palestinian guerrillas, withdrawing from most of the south months later.
Israel invaded Lebanon again in a much bigger operation in 1982 when its forces seized parts of Beirut. It eventually carved out a buffer zone that stopped at the Litani. That zone was reduced gradually but the Israeli presence lasted until 2000, when it withdrew completely.
Associated Press Writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Gabe Ross in Haifa, Israel, contributed to this story.
7/21/2006 22:17:31 EST
BEIRUT, Lebanon (July 21) - Israel massed tanks and troops on the border, called up reserves and warned civilians to flee Hezbollah-controlled southern Lebanon as it prepared Friday for a likely ground invasion.
The Israeli army confirmed some of its troops have been operating in Lebanon for days although no major incursion has been launched.
An official from the U.N. monitoring force in south Lebanon, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press, told The Associated Press in Beirut that between 300 and 500 troops are believed to be in the western sector of the border, backed by as many as 30 tanks.
Israeli forces would conduct ground operations as needed in Lebanon, but they would be "limited," Israeli army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz said. He also said nearly 100 Hezbollah guerrillas have been killed in the offensive in Lebanon.
"We will fight terror wherever it is because if we do not fight it, it will fight us. If we don't reach it, it will reach us," Halutz said at a news conference in Tel Aviv. "We will also conduct limited ground operations as much as needed in order to harm the terror that harms us."
Israeli will allow aid supplies into Lebanon, an envoy said, a day after the United Nations warned of a growing humanitarian crisis following 10 days of the heaviest bombardment of the country in 24 years.
Hezbollah militants fired 11 rockets at Israel's port city of Haifa, wounding five. Israeli warplanes pounded the Beirut-to-Damascus highway, collapsing part of Lebanon's longest bridge. A U.N.-run observation post near the border was hit, but no one was hurt.
Ships lined up at Beirut's port as a massive evacuation of Americans and other foreigners picked up speed. U.S. officials said about 5,000 Americans left Friday, bringing the total evacuated to more than 8,000. Roughly 25,000 Americans were in Lebanon when the fighting began.
As sunset approached, lines of tanks, troops, armored personnel carriers and bulldozers were parked on a two-lane highway in northern Israel - close enough for some soldiers to see Lebanese villages and homes.
A senior Israeli military official said it intends to destroy Hezbollah's tunnels, hideouts, weapons caches and other assets during its expected land incursions into southern Lebanon, not create a buffer zone as it did during its 1982-2000 occupation.
The goal is to weaken Hezbollah so that the Lebanese army can move into areas previously controlled by the guerrillas, possibly with the aid of an increased international peacekeeping force, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity because the topic dealt with sensitive military matters.
Mounting civilian casualties and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Lebanese could limit the time Israel has to achieve its goals, as international tolerance for the bloodshed and destruction runs out.
An Israeli military radio station warned residents of 12 border villages in southern Lebanon to leave before 2 p.m. Friday.
At least 335 people have been killed in Lebanon in the Israeli campaign, according to the Lebanese health minister. Thirty-four Israelis also have been killed, including 19 soldiers.
Lebanese soldiers buried 72 people killed in recent bombings in a mass grave just outside a barracks in the southern city of Tyre. Volunteers put the bodies, many of them children, in wooden coffins and spray-painted the names of the dead on the lids.
The United States - which has resisted calls to press its ally to halt the fighting - was sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the Mideast on Sunday. She ruled out a quick cease-fire as a "false promise" and said "Hezbollah is the source of the problem."
The mission would be the first U.S. diplomatic effort on the ground since the Israeli onslaught against Lebanon began.
Israeli U.N. Ambassador Dan Gillerman said he expected a corridor for food, medicine and other supplies to be opened later Friday or Saturday. His remarks came as French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy called for safe passage of urgent aid his country was sending.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned Thursday of a humanitarian crisis in Lebanon and called for an immediate cease-fire, even as he admitted "serious obstacles" stand in the way of easing the violence.
He told CNN later that the conflict had created 700,000 refugees, most of them remaining in Lebanon, where the destruction has made access and treatment difficult. "I'm afraid of a major humanitarian disaster," he said.
The price of food, medical supplies and gasoline rose as much as 500 percent in parts of Lebanon as the bombardment cut supply routes. The U.N. estimated that a half-million people have been displaced, with 130,000 fleeing to Syria and 45,000 believed to be in need of assistance.
Top Israeli officials said Israel won't stop its offensive until Hezbollah is forced behind the Litani River, 20 miles north of the border - creating a new buffer zone in a region that saw 18 years of Israeli presence since 1982.
As Israel stepped up its small forays over the border to seek Hezbollah positions, rocket stores and bunkers, it has faced tough resistance.
Israeli warplanes fired missiles that partially collapsed a 1.6-mile suspension bridge linking two steep mountain peaks in central Lebanon. The bridge has been hit several times since fighting began.
The bombing also set ablaze three buses that had just dropped off passengers in Syria, but the drivers escaped, police said.
Renewed attacks struck the ancient city of Baalbek, a major Hezbollah stronghold, and security officials said two people were killed and 19 wounded. Hezbollah strongholds in south Beirut and elsewhere also were struck overnight, killing one person. Missiles hit a village near the Israeli border, Aita al-Shaab, killing three, officials said.
A house in the border village of Aitaroun was flattened, with 10 people believed inside, but rescuers couldn't reach it because of shelling, security officials said.
At least 11 rockets hit Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, and five people were wounded, with 23 treated for shock. More rockets fell elsewhere in northern Israel, the army said, with strikes reported in Rosh Pina, Safed and in several communities near the Sea of Galilee.
Hezbollah has fired hundreds of rockets from the Lebanese border since fighting began, forcing Israelis into underground shelters. Eight people in Haifa were killed July 16.
A U.N. official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the situation, said an artillery shell fired by the Israeli military made "a direct hit on the U.N. position overlooking Zarit."
An Israeli military spokesman said the rockets were fired by Hezbollah guerrillas at northern Israel. The differing accounts could not immediately be reconciled.
During an Israeli offensive against Lebanon in 1996, artillery blasted a U.N. base at Qana in southern Lebanon, killing more than 100 civilians taking refuge with the peacekeepers.
The U.N. mission, which has nearly 2,000 military personnel and more than 300 civilians, is to patrol the border line, known as the Blue Line, drawn by the U.N. after Israel withdrew troops from south Lebanon in 2000, ending an 18-year occupation.
Two Apache attack helicopters collided in northern Israel near the border, killing one air force officer and injuring three others, Israeli officials said. Israel's air force began an investigation.
Hezbollah said three of its fighters had been killed in the latest fighting, bringing to six the number killed since Israel began its campaign after the militant Shiite Muslim group captured two of its soldiers July 12.
Annan denounced Israel for "excessive use of force" and Hezbollah for holding "an entire nation hostage" with its rocket attacks and capturing the Israeli soldiers.
The number of reserves called up by the Israeli army was not disclosed, but a military official, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, said it would be several thousand.
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah shrugged off concerns of a stepped-up Israeli onslaught, saying the captive Israelis would be freed only as part of a prisoner exchange.
He spoke in an interview taped Thursday with Al-Jazeera to show he had survived an airstrike in south Beirut that Israel said targeted a Hezbollah leadership bunker. The guerrillas said the strike only hit a mosque under construction and no one was hurt.
Lebanese streamed north into Beirut and other regions, crowding into schools, relatives' homes or hotels. Taxi drivers in the south were charging up to $400 per person for rides to Beirut - more than 40 times the usual price. In remote villages of the south, cut off by strikes, residents made their way out over the mountains by foot.
More than 400,000 people - perhaps as many as a half-million - are believed to live south of the Litani, according to former top U.N. adviser Timur Goskel. The river has twice been the border of Israeli buffer zones. In 1978, Israel invaded up to the Litani to drive back Palestinian guerrillas, withdrawing from most of the south months later.
Israel invaded Lebanon again in a much bigger operation in 1982 when its forces seized parts of Beirut. It eventually carved out a buffer zone that stopped at the Litani. That zone was reduced gradually but the Israeli presence lasted until 2000, when it withdrew completely.
Associated Press Writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations and Gabe Ross in Haifa, Israel, contributed to this story.
7/21/2006 22:17:31 EST
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theone666
- Major [O-4]
- Posts: 1434
- Joined: Mon Nov 21, 2005 5:00 am
Thousands flee southern Lebanon
Saturday, 22 July 2006, 20:55 GMT 21:55 UK
Thousands of people are struggling to leave southern Lebanon, as Israel continues air strikes and ground raids.
Israel issued a specific warning to civilians in 14 villages, telling them to leave by Saturday evening.
Later, the Israeli military said its forces had taken the village of Maroun al-Ras, thought to have been the launch site for rocket attacks against Israel.
The UN humanitarian chief is en route to Beirut, as the UN seeks to secure safe routes out for fleeing civilians.
The UN's Jan Egeland said half a million people needed assistance - and the number was likely to increase.
As concerns about hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians grew, Israel eased restrictions on Lebanon's blockaded ports to allow aid into the country.
Despite building up troops and tanks along the border, Israel has insisted it has no plans for a large-scale invasion.
The warnings issued to 14 villages came a day after Israel dropped leaflets warning Lebanese civilians to flee a broad swathe of the south.
The BBC's Martin Asser in the southern city of Tyre described long queues of taxis and cars negotiating bomb-cratered roads and making detours around destroyed bridges.
Many civilians from villages in the region had gathered in the city during the week and are now trying to leave. However, many people say they are reluctant to move without UN protection.
Ground incursions
On the 11th day of fighting, Israeli jets knocked out TV and phone masts in the east and north of Lebanon, disrupting broadcasts for Hezbollah's Al-Manar television and the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation.
Hezbollah continued to fire dozens of rockets into Israel, hitting the towns of Carmiel, Kiryat Shmona and Nahariya, and wounding several Israelis.
Israeli soldiers also continued ground incursions. The Israeli military said its forces had taken control of the village of Maroun al-Ras, and that they had eliminated what they described as major Hezbollah strongholds there.
There has been no independent confirmation.
Six Israeli soldiers have died in heavy fighting with Hezbollah militants in recent days.
Israel also briefly occupied the village of Marwahin, but has now withdrawn. The army has said limited raids across the border will continue, targeting Hezbollah bunkers and tunnels that cannot be destroyed from the air.
Correspondents say Israeli troops are likely to push deeper and more frequently into Lebanon over the coming days.
'Terrorist group'
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is travelling to the Middle East on Sunday, as is German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, who helped broker a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah in 2004.
In his weekly radio address, US President George Bush stressed the need for "confronting the terrorist group that launched the attacks and the nations that support it".
He described Syria as "a primary sponsor" of Hezbollah, and accused Damascus of helping provide the group with Iranian weapons.
His comments followed a report in the New York Times, citing US officials who said the US was rushing a delivery of satellite and laser-guided bombs to Israel.
The crisis was triggered by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants on 12 July.
Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner told the BBC Israel was not interested in invading, conquering or occupying Lebanon, from where it withdraw troops in 2000.
"We only want to get rid of Hezbollah," he said.
Senior Lebanese officials have warned the country's army will go into battle if Israel invades.
More than 350 Lebanese have been killed in the 11 days of violence, many of them civilians.
Thirty-four Israelis have been killed, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
Thousands of people are struggling to leave southern Lebanon, as Israel continues air strikes and ground raids.
Israel issued a specific warning to civilians in 14 villages, telling them to leave by Saturday evening.
Later, the Israeli military said its forces had taken the village of Maroun al-Ras, thought to have been the launch site for rocket attacks against Israel.
The UN humanitarian chief is en route to Beirut, as the UN seeks to secure safe routes out for fleeing civilians.
The UN's Jan Egeland said half a million people needed assistance - and the number was likely to increase.
As concerns about hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians grew, Israel eased restrictions on Lebanon's blockaded ports to allow aid into the country.
Despite building up troops and tanks along the border, Israel has insisted it has no plans for a large-scale invasion.
The warnings issued to 14 villages came a day after Israel dropped leaflets warning Lebanese civilians to flee a broad swathe of the south.
The BBC's Martin Asser in the southern city of Tyre described long queues of taxis and cars negotiating bomb-cratered roads and making detours around destroyed bridges.
Many civilians from villages in the region had gathered in the city during the week and are now trying to leave. However, many people say they are reluctant to move without UN protection.
Ground incursions
On the 11th day of fighting, Israeli jets knocked out TV and phone masts in the east and north of Lebanon, disrupting broadcasts for Hezbollah's Al-Manar television and the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation.
Hezbollah continued to fire dozens of rockets into Israel, hitting the towns of Carmiel, Kiryat Shmona and Nahariya, and wounding several Israelis.
Israeli soldiers also continued ground incursions. The Israeli military said its forces had taken control of the village of Maroun al-Ras, and that they had eliminated what they described as major Hezbollah strongholds there.
There has been no independent confirmation.
Six Israeli soldiers have died in heavy fighting with Hezbollah militants in recent days.
Israel also briefly occupied the village of Marwahin, but has now withdrawn. The army has said limited raids across the border will continue, targeting Hezbollah bunkers and tunnels that cannot be destroyed from the air.
Correspondents say Israeli troops are likely to push deeper and more frequently into Lebanon over the coming days.
'Terrorist group'
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is travelling to the Middle East on Sunday, as is German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, who helped broker a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah in 2004.
In his weekly radio address, US President George Bush stressed the need for "confronting the terrorist group that launched the attacks and the nations that support it".
He described Syria as "a primary sponsor" of Hezbollah, and accused Damascus of helping provide the group with Iranian weapons.
His comments followed a report in the New York Times, citing US officials who said the US was rushing a delivery of satellite and laser-guided bombs to Israel.
The crisis was triggered by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants on 12 July.
Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner told the BBC Israel was not interested in invading, conquering or occupying Lebanon, from where it withdraw troops in 2000.
"We only want to get rid of Hezbollah," he said.
Senior Lebanese officials have warned the country's army will go into battle if Israel invades.
More than 350 Lebanese have been killed in the 11 days of violence, many of them civilians.
Thirty-four Israelis have been killed, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
-
theone666
- Major [O-4]
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Israel 'seizes' Hezbollah village
Sunday, 23 July 2006, 00:24 GMT 01:24 UK
Israeli forces say they have seized the Lebanese border village of Maroun al-Ras, an apparent base used by Hezbollah to fire rockets into Israel.
Exchanges of fire can be still be heard in the village, said by Hezbollah to be the scene of an "epic battle".
Israeli planes reportedly bombed Beirut and the city of Sidon early on Sunday, the 12th day of the campaign.
Thousands of people have been trying to leave southern Lebanon and the United Nations warns of a humanitarian crisis.
Its humanitarian chief is en route to Beirut, as the UN seeks to secure safe routes out for fleeing civilians.
The UN's Jan Egeland said half a million people needed assistance - and the number was likely to increase.
One-third of the recent Lebanese casualties, he said, appeared to be children.
As concerns about hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians grew, Israel eased restrictions on Lebanon's blockaded ports to allow aid into the country.
'More incursions'
Israel's latest aerial attacks focussed on the southern port city of Sidon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, news agencies say.
Hours earlier, Israel said its forces had driven Hezbollah guerrillas out of the hilltop village of Maroun al-Ras, where six Israeli commandos were killed earlier this week.
The report has not been confirmed independently and Hezbollah's al-Manar TV station reported earlier on Saturday that an epic battle was under way in the village.
According to the BBC's Crispin Thorold in Jerusalem, the village has a strategic value, overlooking several other sites said to have been used as launch pads for Hezbollah rockets.
Hezbollah continued to fire dozens of rockets into Israel on Saturday, hitting the towns of Carmiel, Kiryat Shmona and Nahariya, and wounding several Israelis.
There are substantial numbers of Israeli forces near the border, and military sources suggest that there will be continued incursions in the coming days.
Israel insists it has no plans for a large-scale invasion and its ground forces are only entering Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah hideouts that cannot be attacked from the air.
Fleeing civilians
Israel issued a specific warning to civilians in 14 villages, telling them to leave by Saturday evening.
The warnings issued to 14 villages came a day after Israel dropped leaflets warning Lebanese civilians to flee a broad swathe of the south.
The BBC's Martin Asser in the southern city of Tyre described long queues of taxis and cars negotiating bomb-cratered roads and making detours around destroyed bridges.
Many civilians from villages in the region had gathered in the city during the week and are now trying to leave. However, many people say they are reluctant to move without UN protection.
On the 11th day of fighting, Israeli jets knocked out TV and phone masts in the east and north of Lebanon, disrupting broadcasts for Hezbollah's Al-Manar television and the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation.
Israel also briefly occupied the village of Marwahin, but has now withdrawn.
'Terrorist group'
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is travelling to the Middle East on Sunday, as is German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, who helped broker a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah in 2004.
In his weekly radio address, US President George Bush stressed the need for "confronting the terrorist group that launched the attacks and the nations that support it".
He described Syria as "a primary sponsor" of Hezbollah, and accused Damascus of helping provide the group with Iranian weapons.
His comments followed a report in the New York Times, citing US officials who said the US was rushing a delivery of satellite and laser-guided bombs to Israel.
The crisis was triggered by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants on 12 July.
Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner told the BBC Israel was not interested in invading, conquering or occupying Lebanon, from where it withdraw troops in 2000.
"We only want to get rid of Hezbollah," he said.
Senior Lebanese officials have warned the country's army will go into battle if Israel invades.
More than 350 Lebanese have been killed in the 11 days of violence, many of them civilians.
Thirty-four Israelis have been killed, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.
Israeli forces say they have seized the Lebanese border village of Maroun al-Ras, an apparent base used by Hezbollah to fire rockets into Israel.
Exchanges of fire can be still be heard in the village, said by Hezbollah to be the scene of an "epic battle".
Israeli planes reportedly bombed Beirut and the city of Sidon early on Sunday, the 12th day of the campaign.
Thousands of people have been trying to leave southern Lebanon and the United Nations warns of a humanitarian crisis.
Its humanitarian chief is en route to Beirut, as the UN seeks to secure safe routes out for fleeing civilians.
The UN's Jan Egeland said half a million people needed assistance - and the number was likely to increase.
One-third of the recent Lebanese casualties, he said, appeared to be children.
As concerns about hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians grew, Israel eased restrictions on Lebanon's blockaded ports to allow aid into the country.
'More incursions'
Israel's latest aerial attacks focussed on the southern port city of Sidon and the southern suburbs of Beirut, a Hezbollah stronghold, news agencies say.
Hours earlier, Israel said its forces had driven Hezbollah guerrillas out of the hilltop village of Maroun al-Ras, where six Israeli commandos were killed earlier this week.
The report has not been confirmed independently and Hezbollah's al-Manar TV station reported earlier on Saturday that an epic battle was under way in the village.
According to the BBC's Crispin Thorold in Jerusalem, the village has a strategic value, overlooking several other sites said to have been used as launch pads for Hezbollah rockets.
Hezbollah continued to fire dozens of rockets into Israel on Saturday, hitting the towns of Carmiel, Kiryat Shmona and Nahariya, and wounding several Israelis.
There are substantial numbers of Israeli forces near the border, and military sources suggest that there will be continued incursions in the coming days.
Israel insists it has no plans for a large-scale invasion and its ground forces are only entering Lebanon to destroy Hezbollah hideouts that cannot be attacked from the air.
Fleeing civilians
Israel issued a specific warning to civilians in 14 villages, telling them to leave by Saturday evening.
The warnings issued to 14 villages came a day after Israel dropped leaflets warning Lebanese civilians to flee a broad swathe of the south.
The BBC's Martin Asser in the southern city of Tyre described long queues of taxis and cars negotiating bomb-cratered roads and making detours around destroyed bridges.
Many civilians from villages in the region had gathered in the city during the week and are now trying to leave. However, many people say they are reluctant to move without UN protection.
On the 11th day of fighting, Israeli jets knocked out TV and phone masts in the east and north of Lebanon, disrupting broadcasts for Hezbollah's Al-Manar television and the Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation.
Israel also briefly occupied the village of Marwahin, but has now withdrawn.
'Terrorist group'
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is travelling to the Middle East on Sunday, as is German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, who helped broker a prisoner exchange between Israel and Hezbollah in 2004.
In his weekly radio address, US President George Bush stressed the need for "confronting the terrorist group that launched the attacks and the nations that support it".
He described Syria as "a primary sponsor" of Hezbollah, and accused Damascus of helping provide the group with Iranian weapons.
His comments followed a report in the New York Times, citing US officials who said the US was rushing a delivery of satellite and laser-guided bombs to Israel.
The crisis was triggered by the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah militants on 12 July.
Israeli government spokesman Avi Pazner told the BBC Israel was not interested in invading, conquering or occupying Lebanon, from where it withdraw troops in 2000.
"We only want to get rid of Hezbollah," he said.
Senior Lebanese officials have warned the country's army will go into battle if Israel invades.
More than 350 Lebanese have been killed in the 11 days of violence, many of them civilians.
Thirty-four Israelis have been killed, including 15 civilians killed by rockets fired by Hezbollah into Israel.