Two Israeli soldiers captured seven killed in Hezbollah attack
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Owais
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Israeli Prime Minister sets conditions for ceasefire
JERUSALEM (July 15 2006): Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has imposed three conditions for a cease-fire in Lebanon, where Israel has been waging a deadly three-day assault, a government spokesman said Friday. "The Prime Minister is prepared to finish our operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah releases our two soldiers, stops its rocket fire and if the Lebanese government decides to implement UN Security Council resolution 1559," Miri Eisin told AFP.
The resolution calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah. "If these conditions are met, we are ready to cooperate with a delegation from the United Nations," the spokeswoman said. Eisin denied there was international pressure preventing Israel from continuing its operations, which Lebanon says have killed at least 60 people, but acknowledged there had been "criticisms".
Israel pounded Lebanon for the third straight day Friday, targeting Hizbollah's power base and the international airport in attacks that have also hit bridges, roads and power stations.
Eisin refused to set a deadline for the end of the Israeli offensive, which also includes an air and sea blockade on Lebanon, one of the smallest countries in the Middle East. Public radio, quoting ministers, said the government had not expected such heavy international criticism over its Lebanese offensive so far as "operations remain essentially concentrated on Hezbollah".
Israel bombed the home of Hizbollah's leader in Beirut on Friday as part of a widening assault in Lebanon since Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight. Hizbollah said Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was safe.
Israeli air strikes destroyed Nasrallah's apartment building and a main Hizbollah office in southern Beirut, Hizbollah said.
It said Nasrallah and his family were not hurt in the raids, without saying if they had been at home at the time. The Israeli army said warplanes attacked Hizbollah's headquarters in Beirut, but a spokeswoman would not say if it was an attempt to kill Nasrallah.
Israel also attacked many Lebanese civilian installations in the third day of its campaign to force the release of the two Israeli soldiers and halt cross-border rocket strikes. Israeli aircraft rocketed runways at Beirut's international airport and bombed a flyover just to the south, witnesses said.
The airport has been shut since runways and fuel tanks were hit on Thursday. Four planes from Lebanon's Middle East Airlines had taken off empty for Amman shortly before the latest raids.
Israeli warplanes blasted the main Beirut-Damascus highway overnight, tightening an air, sea and land blockade of Lebanon, and bombed targets in Beirut's teeming suburbs, killing three people and wounding 40, security sources said.
A late afternoon air strike in southern Beirut's Haret Hreik district targeted Hizbollah's radio station, witnesses said. The radio stayed on the air. One person was wounded. Air strikes in south Lebanon killed five more people.
Their deaths brought to 66 the number of people, almost all civilians, killed in Lebanon in the past three days, police said. More than 200 people have been wounded.
Hizbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel have now killed four Israelis and wounded more than 150. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said the rocket salvos "cannot and will not be allowed to continue". Snow told reporters that Bush had spoken by telephone to Lebanon's prime minister among other Middle East leaders.
He said Bush believed the Israelis have the right to protect themselves, but should limit "so-called collateral damage not only to facilities but also to human lives". Snow said Siniora had suggested a cease-fire, which Washington favoured, but thought would be hard to pull off. "It is unlikely that either or both parties are going to agree to that at this juncture," Snow said.
The violence in Lebanon coincided with an Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip launched last month to try to retrieve another captured soldier and halt Palestinian rocket fire. Israel bombed offices of Hamas lawmakers, destroyed a bridge and fired a tank shell that killed a Palestinian on Friday.
Israeli forces withdrew overnight from central Gaza after two days of fighting, but did not rule out going back in. Palestinian gunmen blew a huge hole in the border wall between Gaza and Egypt, allowing hundreds of Gazans, who had been stranded on the closed border for two weeks to enter the Strip.
Israeli helicopters opened fire near the Palestinians as they poured in, a Reuters witness said. The army said the intention was to prevent them from crossing the border wall.
Since the Gaza offensive was launched on June 28, Israel has killed more than 80 Palestinians, a majority of them militants.
Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday his movement's guerrillas had destroyed the Israeli warship which had struck his headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut. The Israeli military said only that a ship had been "lightly hit". "Surprises will start from now. Now, off the coast of the sea, the warship which attacked... the southern suburbs... watch it burning and drowning," Nasrallah said.
Lebanese police said two missiles fired from the southern suburbs of Beirut had targeted an Israeli warship off the coast of the Lebanese capital. "There was a navy ship that was lightly hit along the Lebanese shore," an Israeli military spokeswoman told AFP, refusing to give any further details when asked if there any casualties.
UNSC MEETING: The UN Security Council debated the violence in Lebanon in an emergency meeting on Friday that ended with no action on Beirut's demand for an immediate end to Israeli air strikes on its territory.
The debate highlighted divisions in the Council, with the United States standing alone in refusing to even caution restraint from Israel over its military offensives in both Lebanon and Gaza.
US Ambassador John Bolton laid sole blame for the escalating violence in the region on Iran and Syria and their support for militant groups like Hezbollah and the armed wing of Hamas.
Council members united in condemning the Hezbollah action and repeated rocket attacks into Israel, but most also voiced concern over the level of the Israeli military response which French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere described as "disproportionate."
The United States, however, made no mention whatsoever of the Israeli attacks, calling instead on Iran and Syria to stop their sponsorship of the Hezbollah and Hamas militants.
The Lebanese government had called the debate to seek a council decision calling for a comprehensive cease-fire, the lifting of Israeli air and sea blockades imposed upon Lebanon and an end to the air strikes.
"We are meeting in the shadow of a widespread barbaric aggression waged by Israel against my nation," Mahmoud said, adding that the Israeli action was aimed at "bringing Lebanon to its knees and subverting it by any means." An expected presidential statement from the Security Council failed to materialise from the meeting after what diplomatic sources said was disagreement on the language to be used.
Instead the member states put out a press statement welcoming the decision by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to send a three-man crisis team to the Middle East.
The brief statement called on "all concerned states and parties to extend their full co-operation to the mission," which has been tasked with a one-week mission to rein in escalating violence in the region.
JERUSALEM (July 15 2006): Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has imposed three conditions for a cease-fire in Lebanon, where Israel has been waging a deadly three-day assault, a government spokesman said Friday. "The Prime Minister is prepared to finish our operations in Lebanon if Hezbollah releases our two soldiers, stops its rocket fire and if the Lebanese government decides to implement UN Security Council resolution 1559," Miri Eisin told AFP.
The resolution calls for the disarmament of Hezbollah. "If these conditions are met, we are ready to cooperate with a delegation from the United Nations," the spokeswoman said. Eisin denied there was international pressure preventing Israel from continuing its operations, which Lebanon says have killed at least 60 people, but acknowledged there had been "criticisms".
Israel pounded Lebanon for the third straight day Friday, targeting Hizbollah's power base and the international airport in attacks that have also hit bridges, roads and power stations.
Eisin refused to set a deadline for the end of the Israeli offensive, which also includes an air and sea blockade on Lebanon, one of the smallest countries in the Middle East. Public radio, quoting ministers, said the government had not expected such heavy international criticism over its Lebanese offensive so far as "operations remain essentially concentrated on Hezbollah".
Israel bombed the home of Hizbollah's leader in Beirut on Friday as part of a widening assault in Lebanon since Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed eight. Hizbollah said Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah was safe.
Israeli air strikes destroyed Nasrallah's apartment building and a main Hizbollah office in southern Beirut, Hizbollah said.
It said Nasrallah and his family were not hurt in the raids, without saying if they had been at home at the time. The Israeli army said warplanes attacked Hizbollah's headquarters in Beirut, but a spokeswoman would not say if it was an attempt to kill Nasrallah.
Israel also attacked many Lebanese civilian installations in the third day of its campaign to force the release of the two Israeli soldiers and halt cross-border rocket strikes. Israeli aircraft rocketed runways at Beirut's international airport and bombed a flyover just to the south, witnesses said.
The airport has been shut since runways and fuel tanks were hit on Thursday. Four planes from Lebanon's Middle East Airlines had taken off empty for Amman shortly before the latest raids.
Israeli warplanes blasted the main Beirut-Damascus highway overnight, tightening an air, sea and land blockade of Lebanon, and bombed targets in Beirut's teeming suburbs, killing three people and wounding 40, security sources said.
A late afternoon air strike in southern Beirut's Haret Hreik district targeted Hizbollah's radio station, witnesses said. The radio stayed on the air. One person was wounded. Air strikes in south Lebanon killed five more people.
Their deaths brought to 66 the number of people, almost all civilians, killed in Lebanon in the past three days, police said. More than 200 people have been wounded.
Hizbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel have now killed four Israelis and wounded more than 150. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said the rocket salvos "cannot and will not be allowed to continue". Snow told reporters that Bush had spoken by telephone to Lebanon's prime minister among other Middle East leaders.
He said Bush believed the Israelis have the right to protect themselves, but should limit "so-called collateral damage not only to facilities but also to human lives". Snow said Siniora had suggested a cease-fire, which Washington favoured, but thought would be hard to pull off. "It is unlikely that either or both parties are going to agree to that at this juncture," Snow said.
The violence in Lebanon coincided with an Israeli incursion into the Gaza Strip launched last month to try to retrieve another captured soldier and halt Palestinian rocket fire. Israel bombed offices of Hamas lawmakers, destroyed a bridge and fired a tank shell that killed a Palestinian on Friday.
Israeli forces withdrew overnight from central Gaza after two days of fighting, but did not rule out going back in. Palestinian gunmen blew a huge hole in the border wall between Gaza and Egypt, allowing hundreds of Gazans, who had been stranded on the closed border for two weeks to enter the Strip.
Israeli helicopters opened fire near the Palestinians as they poured in, a Reuters witness said. The army said the intention was to prevent them from crossing the border wall.
Since the Gaza offensive was launched on June 28, Israel has killed more than 80 Palestinians, a majority of them militants.
Hizbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah said on Friday his movement's guerrillas had destroyed the Israeli warship which had struck his headquarters in the southern suburbs of Beirut. The Israeli military said only that a ship had been "lightly hit". "Surprises will start from now. Now, off the coast of the sea, the warship which attacked... the southern suburbs... watch it burning and drowning," Nasrallah said.
Lebanese police said two missiles fired from the southern suburbs of Beirut had targeted an Israeli warship off the coast of the Lebanese capital. "There was a navy ship that was lightly hit along the Lebanese shore," an Israeli military spokeswoman told AFP, refusing to give any further details when asked if there any casualties.
UNSC MEETING: The UN Security Council debated the violence in Lebanon in an emergency meeting on Friday that ended with no action on Beirut's demand for an immediate end to Israeli air strikes on its territory.
The debate highlighted divisions in the Council, with the United States standing alone in refusing to even caution restraint from Israel over its military offensives in both Lebanon and Gaza.
US Ambassador John Bolton laid sole blame for the escalating violence in the region on Iran and Syria and their support for militant groups like Hezbollah and the armed wing of Hamas.
Council members united in condemning the Hezbollah action and repeated rocket attacks into Israel, but most also voiced concern over the level of the Israeli military response which French Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere described as "disproportionate."
The United States, however, made no mention whatsoever of the Israeli attacks, calling instead on Iran and Syria to stop their sponsorship of the Hezbollah and Hamas militants.
The Lebanese government had called the debate to seek a council decision calling for a comprehensive cease-fire, the lifting of Israeli air and sea blockades imposed upon Lebanon and an end to the air strikes.
"We are meeting in the shadow of a widespread barbaric aggression waged by Israel against my nation," Mahmoud said, adding that the Israeli action was aimed at "bringing Lebanon to its knees and subverting it by any means." An expected presidential statement from the Security Council failed to materialise from the meeting after what diplomatic sources said was disagreement on the language to be used.
Instead the member states put out a press statement welcoming the decision by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to send a three-man crisis team to the Middle East.
The brief statement called on "all concerned states and parties to extend their full co-operation to the mission," which has been tasked with a one-week mission to rein in escalating violence in the region.
Bull said:
sorry to say bull u are an idiot........Syria has an economy 1/5 the size of Israels and military budget even less than 1/5...........they dont have the capabilities for war period.
Pak. has nuclear tipped weapons, which other arab nation has it??
Owais
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sigatoka said:
Right
Syria can fight with israel
but can't win the war because Isreal have full military and economic support of USA .
what syria can do is to just help hizbullah against Israel in order to engage most of Israel's army In Palestin.
Owais
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Israel airplanes continue air raids on Hezbollah targets BEIRUT: Civilian death toll in Lebanon Israeli air raids Saturday increased to 90, while four Israeli servicemen were missing after the militant group Hezbollah attacked an Israeli warship off the Lebanese coast on early Saturday.
Three civilians were killed and 12 others wounded in a series of Israeli air strikes across Lebanon on Saturday. Three civilians were killed when Israeli jets fired missiles near a bridge on the Assi river on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Hermel on the border with Syria, police said.
The Israeli navy vessel caught fire after being hit by a rocket. The stricken ship was pulled to the port of Haifa in northern Israel by another boat, and four crewmen remain unaccounted for, a spokeswoman said.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has declared an open war on Israel saying that his group will now target the whole Jewish state.
A spokesman of Israeli prime minister has said the Jewish state was ready to stop Lebanon strikes demanding release of abducted soldiers, disarming Hezbollah and stopping rocket attacks on Israel.
United Nations Security Council meeting today to discuss the Middle East crisis.
Three civilians were killed and 12 others wounded in a series of Israeli air strikes across Lebanon on Saturday. Three civilians were killed when Israeli jets fired missiles near a bridge on the Assi river on the outskirts of the northeastern town of Hermel on the border with Syria, police said.
The Israeli navy vessel caught fire after being hit by a rocket. The stricken ship was pulled to the port of Haifa in northern Israel by another boat, and four crewmen remain unaccounted for, a spokeswoman said.
Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has declared an open war on Israel saying that his group will now target the whole Jewish state.
A spokesman of Israeli prime minister has said the Jewish state was ready to stop Lebanon strikes demanding release of abducted soldiers, disarming Hezbollah and stopping rocket attacks on Israel.
United Nations Security Council meeting today to discuss the Middle East crisis.
Averroes
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Israel kills 32 civilians in strikes
Sat Jul 15, 2006 2:04pm ET
By Laila Bassam
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel killed at least 32 civilians on Saturday, including 15 children, in air strikes meant to punish Lebanon for letting Hizbollah guerrillas menace the Jewish state's northern border.
Israel's bombing of Lebanese roads, bridges, ports and airports, as well as Hizbollah targets, is its most destructive onslaught since a 1982 invasion to expel Palestinian forces.
For the first time, ports in Christian areas were bombarded and a helicopter missile hit a lighthouse on Beirut's seafront.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora demanded an immediate U.N.-backed ceasefire, denouncing Israel for turning his country into a "disaster zone". He appealed for foreign aid.
An Israeli missile incinerated a van in southern Lebanon, killing 20 people, among them 15 children, in the deadliest single attack of the campaign launched by Israel after Hizbollah captured two of its soldiers and killed eight on Wednesday.
Police said the van was carrying two families fleeing the village of Marwaheen after Israeli loudspeaker warnings to leave their homes. Many of the bodies were charred and broken.
Raids on roads, ports and petrol stations in north, east and south Lebanon killed 12 people and wounded 32, security sources said, bringing the death toll in four days of Israeli attacks to 100. All but four of the dead were civilians.
Israel's assault has choked Lebanon's economy and led to an exodus of tourists and foreigners.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsA...180348Z_01_L11538533_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST.xml
Sat Jul 15, 2006 2:04pm ET
By Laila Bassam
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Israel killed at least 32 civilians on Saturday, including 15 children, in air strikes meant to punish Lebanon for letting Hizbollah guerrillas menace the Jewish state's northern border.
Israel's bombing of Lebanese roads, bridges, ports and airports, as well as Hizbollah targets, is its most destructive onslaught since a 1982 invasion to expel Palestinian forces.
For the first time, ports in Christian areas were bombarded and a helicopter missile hit a lighthouse on Beirut's seafront.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora demanded an immediate U.N.-backed ceasefire, denouncing Israel for turning his country into a "disaster zone". He appealed for foreign aid.
An Israeli missile incinerated a van in southern Lebanon, killing 20 people, among them 15 children, in the deadliest single attack of the campaign launched by Israel after Hizbollah captured two of its soldiers and killed eight on Wednesday.
Police said the van was carrying two families fleeing the village of Marwaheen after Israeli loudspeaker warnings to leave their homes. Many of the bodies were charred and broken.
Raids on roads, ports and petrol stations in north, east and south Lebanon killed 12 people and wounded 32, security sources said, bringing the death toll in four days of Israeli attacks to 100. All but four of the dead were civilians.
Israel's assault has choked Lebanon's economy and led to an exodus of tourists and foreigners.
http://today.reuters.com/news/newsA...180348Z_01_L11538533_RTRUKOC_0_US-MIDEAST.xml
Owais
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Nine dead in Hezbollah rocket attack in Haifa http://www.geo.tv/news_images/world...d0-9e23-6585bfa1689bhizbullah-denied_lpic.jpg HAIFA: Nine people were killed and 20 injured in a Hezbollah rocket strike against Israel's third largest city of Haifa on Sunday, an attack likely to trigger a sharp escalation in the deadly Israel-Lebanon conflict.
Hizbollah group has claimed responsibility of the attack.
Israel pounded Beirut's southern suburb on Sunday, the fifth successive day of an offensive on Lebanon, with no sign that its attacks on the Hizbollah guerrilla group and civilian installations were near an end.
Hezbollah has denied an Israeli television report that the head of the Lebanese militant group, Hassan Nasrallah, had been injured in an Israeli raid.
The ongoing air strikes killed at least 39 civilians including 11 children.
A Hezbollah spokesman has denied an Israeli television report that the head of the group, Hassan Nasrallah, had been injured in an Israeli raid.
"We deny categorically that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been injured," he said. "This is mere Israel propaganda."
Israel's private television network earlier said he had been wounded but gave no further details.
A power plant caught fire in Israeli aerial raids and fire tenders working relentlessly to control the fire. Israeli warplanes have also struck eastern Lebanon destroying several houses.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora repeated his demands for an immediate U.N.-backed cease-fire on Saturday. He denounced Israel for turning his country into a "disaster zone" and appealed for foreign aid.
His speech came hours after Israel bombarded ports in Christian areas for the first time and a helicopter missile hit a lighthouse on Beirut's seafront.
At least 104 people, all but four of them civilians, have been killed in the five-day assault, which has choked Lebanon's economy and forced tourists and foreigners to flee.
Israel has deployed Patriot missile batteries in the northern city of Haifa to intercept rockets.
Hizbollah group has claimed responsibility of the attack.
Israel pounded Beirut's southern suburb on Sunday, the fifth successive day of an offensive on Lebanon, with no sign that its attacks on the Hizbollah guerrilla group and civilian installations were near an end.
Hezbollah has denied an Israeli television report that the head of the Lebanese militant group, Hassan Nasrallah, had been injured in an Israeli raid.
The ongoing air strikes killed at least 39 civilians including 11 children.
A Hezbollah spokesman has denied an Israeli television report that the head of the group, Hassan Nasrallah, had been injured in an Israeli raid.
"We deny categorically that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been injured," he said. "This is mere Israel propaganda."
Israel's private television network earlier said he had been wounded but gave no further details.
A power plant caught fire in Israeli aerial raids and fire tenders working relentlessly to control the fire. Israeli warplanes have also struck eastern Lebanon destroying several houses.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora repeated his demands for an immediate U.N.-backed cease-fire on Saturday. He denounced Israel for turning his country into a "disaster zone" and appealed for foreign aid.
His speech came hours after Israel bombarded ports in Christian areas for the first time and a helicopter missile hit a lighthouse on Beirut's seafront.
At least 104 people, all but four of them civilians, have been killed in the five-day assault, which has choked Lebanon's economy and forced tourists and foreigners to flee.
Israel has deployed Patriot missile batteries in the northern city of Haifa to intercept rockets.
Owais
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Hezbollah chief injured in Beirut raid, claims Israeli TV TEL AVIV: The head of Lebanon's Hezbollah movement has been injured in an air strike, Israeli television reported on Sunday.
"Hassan Nasrallah was wounded during an air raid by Israeli forces on Beirut," Israeli private television reported without giving further details.
There was no immediate reaction from Hezbollah.
Israel has carried out relentless air strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over the past four days including Nasrallah's headquarters in the Shiite-dominated southern suburbs of Beirut, which was destroyed on Saturday.
There has so far been no word on whether the 45-year-old Nasrallah -- who defiantly declared "open war" on Israel on Friday -- was inside the nine-storey building at the time of the strikes.
A power plant caught fire in Israeli aerial raids and fire tenders working relentlessly to control the fire.
Israeli warplanes have also struck eastern Lebanon destroying several houses.
Meanwhile Lebanese Prime Minister has declared the country calamity hit region and demanded immediate end of Israel air attacks.
"Hassan Nasrallah was wounded during an air raid by Israeli forces on Beirut," Israeli private television reported without giving further details.
There was no immediate reaction from Hezbollah.
Israel has carried out relentless air strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over the past four days including Nasrallah's headquarters in the Shiite-dominated southern suburbs of Beirut, which was destroyed on Saturday.
There has so far been no word on whether the 45-year-old Nasrallah -- who defiantly declared "open war" on Israel on Friday -- was inside the nine-storey building at the time of the strikes.
A power plant caught fire in Israeli aerial raids and fire tenders working relentlessly to control the fire.
Israeli warplanes have also struck eastern Lebanon destroying several houses.
Meanwhile Lebanese Prime Minister has declared the country calamity hit region and demanded immediate end of Israel air attacks.
Owais
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39 killed as Israel pounds Beirut on fifth successive day BEIRUT: Israel pounded Beirut's southern suburb on Sunday, the fifth successive day of an offensive on Lebanon, with no sign that its attacks on the Hizbollah guerrilla group and civilian installations were near an end.
Hezbollah on Sunday denied an Israeli television report that the head of the Lebanese militant group, Hassan Nasrallah, had been injured in an Israeli raid.
The ongoing air strikes killed at least 39 civilians including 11 children.
A Hezbollah spokesman has denied an Israeli television report that the head of the group, Hassan Nasrallah, had been injured in an Israeli raid.
"We deny categorically that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been injured," he said. "This is mere Israel propaganda."
Israel's private television network earlier said he had been wounded but gave no further details.
The bombing of Lebanese roads, bridges, ports and airports, as well as Hizbollah targets, is Israel's most destructive onslaught since a 1982 invasion to expel Palestinian forces.
Israel has carried out relentless air strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over the past four days including Nasrallah's headquarters in the Shiite-dominated southern suburbs of Beirut, which was destroyed on Saturday.
Air strikes in the early hours of Sunday damaged a flyover linking the southern suburb with the eastern part of Beirut, Hizbollah's al-Manar television reported, and the loud blasts were heard throughout the capital.
A power plant caught fire in Israeli aerial raids and fire tenders working relentlessly to control the fire. Israeli warplanes have also struck eastern Lebanon destroying several houses.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora repeated his demands for an immediate U.N.-backed cease-fire on Saturday. He denounced Israel for turning his country into a "disaster zone" and appealed for foreign aid.
His speech came hours after Israel bombarded ports in Christian areas for the first time and a helicopter missile hit a lighthouse on Beirut's seafront.
At least 104 people, all but four of them civilians, have been killed in the five-day assault, which has choked Lebanon's economy and forced tourists and foreigners to flee.
Israel has deployed Patriot missile batteries in the northern city of Haifa to intercept rockets
Hezbollah on Sunday denied an Israeli television report that the head of the Lebanese militant group, Hassan Nasrallah, had been injured in an Israeli raid.
The ongoing air strikes killed at least 39 civilians including 11 children.
A Hezbollah spokesman has denied an Israeli television report that the head of the group, Hassan Nasrallah, had been injured in an Israeli raid.
"We deny categorically that Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah has been injured," he said. "This is mere Israel propaganda."
Israel's private television network earlier said he had been wounded but gave no further details.
The bombing of Lebanese roads, bridges, ports and airports, as well as Hizbollah targets, is Israel's most destructive onslaught since a 1982 invasion to expel Palestinian forces.
Israel has carried out relentless air strikes against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon over the past four days including Nasrallah's headquarters in the Shiite-dominated southern suburbs of Beirut, which was destroyed on Saturday.
Air strikes in the early hours of Sunday damaged a flyover linking the southern suburb with the eastern part of Beirut, Hizbollah's al-Manar television reported, and the loud blasts were heard throughout the capital.
A power plant caught fire in Israeli aerial raids and fire tenders working relentlessly to control the fire. Israeli warplanes have also struck eastern Lebanon destroying several houses.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora repeated his demands for an immediate U.N.-backed cease-fire on Saturday. He denounced Israel for turning his country into a "disaster zone" and appealed for foreign aid.
His speech came hours after Israel bombarded ports in Christian areas for the first time and a helicopter missile hit a lighthouse on Beirut's seafront.
At least 104 people, all but four of them civilians, have been killed in the five-day assault, which has choked Lebanon's economy and forced tourists and foreigners to flee.
Israel has deployed Patriot missile batteries in the northern city of Haifa to intercept rockets
Owais
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Israel strikes near Syrian border BEIRUT: Israel fired rockets near the Lebanese-Syrian border on Saturday, heightening fears that it could hit Syria, as well as Lebanon, in a campaign to dislodge Syrian-backed Hizbollah fighters from its northern border.
Witnesses said Israeli planes fired four rockets at the Masnaa crossing point between the last Lebanese post and the first Syrian army position on the Beirut-Damascus road.
The Israeli army said it had attacked targets only in Lebanese territory. "It's very important to understand that we have only targeted bridges and access points in Lebanon," an army spokeswoman said. "We have not bombed
Witnesses said Israeli planes fired four rockets at the Masnaa crossing point between the last Lebanese post and the first Syrian army position on the Beirut-Damascus road.
The Israeli army said it had attacked targets only in Lebanese territory. "It's very important to understand that we have only targeted bridges and access points in Lebanon," an army spokeswoman said. "We have not bombed
Owais
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Israel deploys patriot missiles at Haifa JERUSALEM: Israel has deployed Patriot missile batteries in the northern city of Haifa to intercept rockets fired from Lebanon, a military spokeswoman said on Saturday.
The American-made rockets had last been used in that area during the 1991 Gulf War, to protect against Scud missiles fired at Israel from Iraq and were also deployed as a precaution before the latest fighting in Iraq.
"Israel has deployed anti-aircraft missiles. Given the latest events we are using all means at our disposal to protect our citizens" against rocket fire, an army spokeswoman said.
An Israeli news Web site said two Patriot batteries had been placed in Haifa.
Israel's Army Radio said the Patriots were most likely intended for use against longer range rockets than the Katyusha, and also as a precaution against the possibility of missiles being fired at Israel from Syria.
The American-made rockets had last been used in that area during the 1991 Gulf War, to protect against Scud missiles fired at Israel from Iraq and were also deployed as a precaution before the latest fighting in Iraq.
"Israel has deployed anti-aircraft missiles. Given the latest events we are using all means at our disposal to protect our citizens" against rocket fire, an army spokeswoman said.
An Israeli news Web site said two Patriot batteries had been placed in Haifa.
Israel's Army Radio said the Patriots were most likely intended for use against longer range rockets than the Katyusha, and also as a precaution against the possibility of missiles being fired at Israel from Syria.
Owais said:
The Patriots missed intercepting the rockets (p.s. why are the Katyusha rockets called missiles? Missiles are rockets with guidance systems, Katyusha has no guidance system)
Patriots are only really effective against short range ballistic missiles such as the Scud-A for which it was designed for.
Owais
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21 Lebanese killed in new wave of Israeli air raids
BEIRUT (updated on: July 17, 2006, 14:39 PST): Lebanon shook under a new wave of air raids on Monday after Israel vowed a fierce response to Hezbollah guerrilla attacks with no sign of a let-up in a conflict that has killed about 200 people in six days.
At least 21 people, including Lebanese soldiers, were killed as fighter jets slammed missiles into the port of Beirut, a military base in the northern city of Tripoli, and Baalbek, a Hezbollah stronghold in the east.
Governments world-wide were scrambling to evacuate their nationals from Lebanon on the sixth day of the devastating tit-for-tat blitz of Israel air strikes and rocket attacks by Hezbollah.
UN and EU envoys were also in the region holding urgent talks to try to contain the crisis amid fears it could spiral out of control and trigger another all-out war in the Middle east.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called for a "cessation of hostilities" to allow a "stabilisation force" to be put together, in the first sign of action over a conflict that has exposed rifts in the international community.
"I appeal to the parties to focus their targets narrowly and to bear in mind that they have an obligation under international humanitarian law to spare civilian lives (and) to spare civilian infrastructure," he said.
World powers demanded at their G8 summit in Saint Petersburg on Sunday both an end to Israeli military operations and attacks by militants on Israel.
Monday's raids brought to at least 170 the number killed in Israel's fiercest offensive on its northern neighbour since it launched a full-scale invasion in 1982, almost all of them civilians.
Twenty-four Israelis have been killed, including 12 civilians in a barrage of Hezbollah rocket fire across the border.
The onslaught has left Lebanon virtually cut of from the outside world and much of its infrastructure in tatters, with jets hitting roads, bridges and power stations as well as strongholds of Hezbollah, the militia Israel has vowed to crush.
Beirut's international airport, already shut to traffic since last Thursday, was hit again late Sunday by Israeli warplanes which fired 10 missiles on a runway and set the night sky ablaze.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had warned of retaliation after Hezbollah rockets hit Haifa, Israel's third largest city, killing eight railway workers in the deadliest cross-border attack in decades.
"Nothing will deter us, whatever far-reaching ramifications regarding our relations on the northern border and in the region there may be."
The Israeli military ordered residents to flee villages in southern Lebanon, warning of air and artillery operations, and put its commercial capital Tel Aviv and all towns further north on alert.
Israel unleashed its military might on Lebanon after the capture of two soldiers in a Hezbollah attack that also killed eight soldiers, opening up another battleground after a similar offensive launched three weeks against Gaza where militants are holding a third soldier hostage.
"We will use all means," a defiant Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned in an address on Lebanese television. "As long as the enemy has no limits, we will have no limits."
"Surprises are coming. Our forces are still intact, and we are the ones who are choosing the time and the place," said Nasrallah, who has survived repeated attacks on his headquarters in Beirut's Shiite dominated southern suburbs.
Foreign governments were swinging into action to evacuate their nationals
and Israel, which has imposed an air and sea blockade around Lebanon, said it would liaise with them on the operations.
The disabled airport is one of many problems facing residents and foreign nationals seeking to flee Lebanon, with the increasingly dangerous land route to Syria the only available exit for many.
The United States on Sunday began airlifting its nationals out by military helicopter to neighbouring Cyprus, while two British warships were steaming towards Lebanon and a ferry chartered by the French government was due to start taking on board its first passengers Monday.
Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has declared Lebanon a "disaster zone" and appealed for urgent international help for a country that was slowly rebuilding after a devastating 15-year civil war.
But diplomatic efforts finally began to gain momentum with a UN mission in Beirut for talks with Siniora on a possible cease-fire following a visit by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she is considering travelling to the region, while French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is also heading to Beirut to express "solidarity" with the Lebanese people.
The United States has maintained Israel had every right to defend itself and also urged restraint over the offensive, which split the international community and raised fears of dragging Syria and Iran into the conflict.
But the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States presented a united front in urging all parties to halt violence in a statement issued at their summit.
"The extremists must immediately halt their attacks. Those extremist elements and those that support them cannot be allowed to plunge the Middle East into chaos and provoke a wider conflict."
Urging Israel "to exercise utmost restraint," it demanded "an end to Israeli military operations and the early withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza."
Israel says the aim of its operation is to destroy Hezbollah, the Party of God which has long been a thorn in Israel's side and was instrumental in its withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 after a long and bloody occupation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was working "through all channels" to seek the release of the soldiers.
Israel's arch-foe Syria, blamed by the United States and the Jewish state for backing Hezbollah, warned that any Israeli attack "will provoke an unlimited, direct and firm response using all means necessary".
Iran also warned of "unimaginable losses" if Israel attacked Syria and accused the United States of playing a "destructive role by vetoing resolutions and hence encouraging the Israeli crimes".
Israel is now fighting on two fronts after it launched a similar deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip over the capture of another soldier by Palestinian militants in late June.
Both Hezbollah and Palestinian militants holding the soldiers are demanding the release of prisoners from Israeli jails -- something Israel has rejected outright.
Israel pressed on with its assault on Gaza, killing six more Palestinians in air raids and a ground incursion on Sunday and hitting the foreign ministry early Monday. At least 85 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed.
Another Israeli soldier was killed in an explosion in the West Bank town of Nablus.
BEIRUT (updated on: July 17, 2006, 14:39 PST): Lebanon shook under a new wave of air raids on Monday after Israel vowed a fierce response to Hezbollah guerrilla attacks with no sign of a let-up in a conflict that has killed about 200 people in six days.
At least 21 people, including Lebanese soldiers, were killed as fighter jets slammed missiles into the port of Beirut, a military base in the northern city of Tripoli, and Baalbek, a Hezbollah stronghold in the east.
Governments world-wide were scrambling to evacuate their nationals from Lebanon on the sixth day of the devastating tit-for-tat blitz of Israel air strikes and rocket attacks by Hezbollah.
UN and EU envoys were also in the region holding urgent talks to try to contain the crisis amid fears it could spiral out of control and trigger another all-out war in the Middle east.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called for a "cessation of hostilities" to allow a "stabilisation force" to be put together, in the first sign of action over a conflict that has exposed rifts in the international community.
"I appeal to the parties to focus their targets narrowly and to bear in mind that they have an obligation under international humanitarian law to spare civilian lives (and) to spare civilian infrastructure," he said.
World powers demanded at their G8 summit in Saint Petersburg on Sunday both an end to Israeli military operations and attacks by militants on Israel.
Monday's raids brought to at least 170 the number killed in Israel's fiercest offensive on its northern neighbour since it launched a full-scale invasion in 1982, almost all of them civilians.
Twenty-four Israelis have been killed, including 12 civilians in a barrage of Hezbollah rocket fire across the border.
The onslaught has left Lebanon virtually cut of from the outside world and much of its infrastructure in tatters, with jets hitting roads, bridges and power stations as well as strongholds of Hezbollah, the militia Israel has vowed to crush.
Beirut's international airport, already shut to traffic since last Thursday, was hit again late Sunday by Israeli warplanes which fired 10 missiles on a runway and set the night sky ablaze.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had warned of retaliation after Hezbollah rockets hit Haifa, Israel's third largest city, killing eight railway workers in the deadliest cross-border attack in decades.
"Nothing will deter us, whatever far-reaching ramifications regarding our relations on the northern border and in the region there may be."
The Israeli military ordered residents to flee villages in southern Lebanon, warning of air and artillery operations, and put its commercial capital Tel Aviv and all towns further north on alert.
Israel unleashed its military might on Lebanon after the capture of two soldiers in a Hezbollah attack that also killed eight soldiers, opening up another battleground after a similar offensive launched three weeks against Gaza where militants are holding a third soldier hostage.
"We will use all means," a defiant Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah warned in an address on Lebanese television. "As long as the enemy has no limits, we will have no limits."
"Surprises are coming. Our forces are still intact, and we are the ones who are choosing the time and the place," said Nasrallah, who has survived repeated attacks on his headquarters in Beirut's Shiite dominated southern suburbs.
Foreign governments were swinging into action to evacuate their nationals
and Israel, which has imposed an air and sea blockade around Lebanon, said it would liaise with them on the operations.
The disabled airport is one of many problems facing residents and foreign nationals seeking to flee Lebanon, with the increasingly dangerous land route to Syria the only available exit for many.
The United States on Sunday began airlifting its nationals out by military helicopter to neighbouring Cyprus, while two British warships were steaming towards Lebanon and a ferry chartered by the French government was due to start taking on board its first passengers Monday.
Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has declared Lebanon a "disaster zone" and appealed for urgent international help for a country that was slowly rebuilding after a devastating 15-year civil war.
But diplomatic efforts finally began to gain momentum with a UN mission in Beirut for talks with Siniora on a possible cease-fire following a visit by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she is considering travelling to the region, while French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin is also heading to Beirut to express "solidarity" with the Lebanese people.
The United States has maintained Israel had every right to defend itself and also urged restraint over the offensive, which split the international community and raised fears of dragging Syria and Iran into the conflict.
But the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States presented a united front in urging all parties to halt violence in a statement issued at their summit.
"The extremists must immediately halt their attacks. Those extremist elements and those that support them cannot be allowed to plunge the Middle East into chaos and provoke a wider conflict."
Urging Israel "to exercise utmost restraint," it demanded "an end to Israeli military operations and the early withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza."
Israel says the aim of its operation is to destroy Hezbollah, the Party of God which has long been a thorn in Israel's side and was instrumental in its withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000 after a long and bloody occupation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow was working "through all channels" to seek the release of the soldiers.
Israel's arch-foe Syria, blamed by the United States and the Jewish state for backing Hezbollah, warned that any Israeli attack "will provoke an unlimited, direct and firm response using all means necessary".
Iran also warned of "unimaginable losses" if Israel attacked Syria and accused the United States of playing a "destructive role by vetoing resolutions and hence encouraging the Israeli crimes".
Israel is now fighting on two fronts after it launched a similar deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip over the capture of another soldier by Palestinian militants in late June.
Both Hezbollah and Palestinian militants holding the soldiers are demanding the release of prisoners from Israeli jails -- something Israel has rejected outright.
Israel pressed on with its assault on Gaza, killing six more Palestinians in air raids and a ground incursion on Sunday and hitting the foreign ministry early Monday. At least 85 Palestinians and one Israeli have been killed.
Another Israeli soldier was killed in an explosion in the West Bank town of Nablus.
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Israeli forces kill more 31 in strikes on Lebanon BEIRUT: The Israeli attacks killed more 31 Lebanese, including eight Lebanese soldiers who were not part of the conflict on Monday, the reports said.
The death toll in the current crisis has reached 184 in Lebanon and 24 in Israel.
In Lebanon 163 of the dead were civilians while in Israel 12 civilians have been killed.
Iran demanded a cease-fire and a prisoner swap were possible, and the international community signaled willingness to send peacekeepers to back a diplomatic solution.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said a cease-fire and a prisoner swap would be "an acceptable and fair" deal to resolve the conflict.
"In fact, there can be a cease-fire followed by a prisoner swap," he said after talks with Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa.
European Union has called upon for the peaceful solution of Middle East crisis whereas Russia and France once again have condemned Israeli forces attacks in Lebanon.
Meanwhile Israel rejected the reports that that an Israeli F-16 aircraft had been shot down over Lebanon
The death toll in the current crisis has reached 184 in Lebanon and 24 in Israel.
In Lebanon 163 of the dead were civilians while in Israel 12 civilians have been killed.
Iran demanded a cease-fire and a prisoner swap were possible, and the international community signaled willingness to send peacekeepers to back a diplomatic solution.
Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said a cease-fire and a prisoner swap would be "an acceptable and fair" deal to resolve the conflict.
"In fact, there can be a cease-fire followed by a prisoner swap," he said after talks with Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa.
European Union has called upon for the peaceful solution of Middle East crisis whereas Russia and France once again have condemned Israeli forces attacks in Lebanon.
Meanwhile Israel rejected the reports that that an Israeli F-16 aircraft had been shot down over Lebanon
