OMEN
08-13-2006, 08:14 PM
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RUBBLE: A man carries his belongings as he walks near the debris of a destroyed building in a southern suburb of Beirut
BEIRUT: Israeli troops battled Hizbollah guerrillas across southern Lebanon on Sunday and warplanes bombarded Beirut's southern suburbs, a day before a truce brokered at the United Nations was due to begin.
Al Arabiya television reported that seven Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting. On Saturday, the Israeli military suffered its deadliest day of the month-old war with 19 soldiers killed and five others missing and feared dead after their helicopter was shot down by Hizbollah.
Israel's cabinet approved a UN Security Council resolution calling for a "full cessation of hostilities", but both Israel and Hizbollah showed little inclination to stop fighting ahead of Monday's proposed truce.
Israeli aircraft attacked targets in more than 50 villages and towns, Lebanese security sources said, killing at least six people in southern Lebanon and six in the Bekaa valley.
Several explosions shook Beirut and thick white smoke billowed over the Hizbollah-controlled southern suburbs.
More than 153 rockets fired by Hizbollah hit northern Israel, killing one person and wounding 11, Israeli police said.
Israel widened its offensive on Friday despite the UN resolution, and some 30,000 Israeli troops are in Lebanon.
Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that the Israeli government was willing to discuss a possible release of Hizbollah prisoners in exchange for freeing two Israeli soldiers whose capture on July 12 sparked the war.
The United Nations said Israeli and Lebanese leaders had agreed that a truce would take effect at 0500 GMT (5pm NZT) on Monday. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said fighting should end immediately to spare civilians.
"The fighting should stop now to respect the spirit and intent of the Security Council decision, the object of which was to save civilian lives, to spare the pain and suffering that the civilians on both sides are living through," Annan said.
In Lebanon, three civilians were killed and 13 wounded in an Israeli air raid on the village of Ali Al Nahri in the eastern Bekaa Valley, security sources said.
Five people, including a mother and her three children, died when a house was struck near the southern city of Tyre, and two people were killed and four wounded when a truck was hit in the eastern Bekaa valley. Two Lebanese soldiers were killed in air strikes, one in Tyre and one in the Bekaa valley.
Artillery pounded Hizbollah-held areas in south Lebanon. Hundreds of rounds crashed into the Hizbollah stronghold of Khiam, residents said.
Hizbollah reported fierce fighting in several parts of the border area and said its guerrillas destroyed at least three tanks and two bulldozers. It said guerrillas were fighting an Israeli unit trying to reach the downed helicopter.
The Israeli military said it had launched more than 100 air strikes in Lebanon since Friday evening, targeting more than 50 Hizbollah command stations, two missile launchers, and two vehicles carrying weapons from Syria to the Bekaa valley.
At least 1076 people in Lebanon and 144 Israelis, including 104 soldiers, have been killed in the war.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said his government unanimously approved the UN resolution on Saturday, and Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his fighters would abide by the ceasefire once Israeli forces also adhered to it.
The resolution envisages a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon as 15,000 Lebanese troops deploy there along with up to 15,000 UN peacekeeping troops.
But some analysts cautioned fighting was unlikely to stop.
"I think this talk of a ceasefire going into effect tomorrow seems to be highly exaggerated and dubious," said Mouin Rabbani, senior Middle East analyst with the International Crisis Group.
"It seems that Israel's strategy has been to establish positions as far north as possible to implement a fighting withdrawal, meaning that they will try to take on as much of Hizbollah as they can as they work their way south."
Nasrallah said Hizbollah would abide by the UN resolution and co-operate with the UN and Lebanese troops, but would carry on confronting any Israeli soldiers on Lebanese soil.
France is widely expected to lead the UN force, which will expand the existing UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) but have a stronger mandate. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told Le Monde newspaper the mission of the new force would not include disarming Hizbollah by force.
A senior Israeli commander, Major General Udi Adam, said some Israeli forces had reached as far as the Litani river in Lebanon. The river is a few kilometres from the border at some points but about 20km away at others.
Reuters
RUBBLE: A man carries his belongings as he walks near the debris of a destroyed building in a southern suburb of Beirut
BEIRUT: Israeli troops battled Hizbollah guerrillas across southern Lebanon on Sunday and warplanes bombarded Beirut's southern suburbs, a day before a truce brokered at the United Nations was due to begin.
Al Arabiya television reported that seven Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting. On Saturday, the Israeli military suffered its deadliest day of the month-old war with 19 soldiers killed and five others missing and feared dead after their helicopter was shot down by Hizbollah.
Israel's cabinet approved a UN Security Council resolution calling for a "full cessation of hostilities", but both Israel and Hizbollah showed little inclination to stop fighting ahead of Monday's proposed truce.
Israeli aircraft attacked targets in more than 50 villages and towns, Lebanese security sources said, killing at least six people in southern Lebanon and six in the Bekaa valley.
Several explosions shook Beirut and thick white smoke billowed over the Hizbollah-controlled southern suburbs.
More than 153 rockets fired by Hizbollah hit northern Israel, killing one person and wounding 11, Israeli police said.
Israel widened its offensive on Friday despite the UN resolution, and some 30,000 Israeli troops are in Lebanon.
Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported that the Israeli government was willing to discuss a possible release of Hizbollah prisoners in exchange for freeing two Israeli soldiers whose capture on July 12 sparked the war.
The United Nations said Israeli and Lebanese leaders had agreed that a truce would take effect at 0500 GMT (5pm NZT) on Monday. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said fighting should end immediately to spare civilians.
"The fighting should stop now to respect the spirit and intent of the Security Council decision, the object of which was to save civilian lives, to spare the pain and suffering that the civilians on both sides are living through," Annan said.
In Lebanon, three civilians were killed and 13 wounded in an Israeli air raid on the village of Ali Al Nahri in the eastern Bekaa Valley, security sources said.
Five people, including a mother and her three children, died when a house was struck near the southern city of Tyre, and two people were killed and four wounded when a truck was hit in the eastern Bekaa valley. Two Lebanese soldiers were killed in air strikes, one in Tyre and one in the Bekaa valley.
Artillery pounded Hizbollah-held areas in south Lebanon. Hundreds of rounds crashed into the Hizbollah stronghold of Khiam, residents said.
Hizbollah reported fierce fighting in several parts of the border area and said its guerrillas destroyed at least three tanks and two bulldozers. It said guerrillas were fighting an Israeli unit trying to reach the downed helicopter.
The Israeli military said it had launched more than 100 air strikes in Lebanon since Friday evening, targeting more than 50 Hizbollah command stations, two missile launchers, and two vehicles carrying weapons from Syria to the Bekaa valley.
At least 1076 people in Lebanon and 144 Israelis, including 104 soldiers, have been killed in the war.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said his government unanimously approved the UN resolution on Saturday, and Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said his fighters would abide by the ceasefire once Israeli forces also adhered to it.
The resolution envisages a phased withdrawal of Israeli troops from southern Lebanon as 15,000 Lebanese troops deploy there along with up to 15,000 UN peacekeeping troops.
But some analysts cautioned fighting was unlikely to stop.
"I think this talk of a ceasefire going into effect tomorrow seems to be highly exaggerated and dubious," said Mouin Rabbani, senior Middle East analyst with the International Crisis Group.
"It seems that Israel's strategy has been to establish positions as far north as possible to implement a fighting withdrawal, meaning that they will try to take on as much of Hizbollah as they can as they work their way south."
Nasrallah said Hizbollah would abide by the UN resolution and co-operate with the UN and Lebanese troops, but would carry on confronting any Israeli soldiers on Lebanese soil.
France is widely expected to lead the UN force, which will expand the existing UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) but have a stronger mandate. French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy told Le Monde newspaper the mission of the new force would not include disarming Hizbollah by force.
A senior Israeli commander, Major General Udi Adam, said some Israeli forces had reached as far as the Litani river in Lebanon. The river is a few kilometres from the border at some points but about 20km away at others.
Reuters