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Pulled out ... An injured Israeli soldier returns from inside Lebanon..AUSTRALIA is mounting an intensive push to rescue its citizens from southern Lebanon this evening, sending in buses and a ship to pluck them from the danger zone, where many have been stranded.
Australians were tonight set to board an Australian-chartered vessel fleeing the south Lebanon port of Tyre, after officials negotiated its safe passage with the Israeli defence force.
"It has been approved by the Israelis," said a spokesman from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).
It was expected some Australians would be able leave Tyre earlier on a German or Canadian vessel, if there was space.
Australians were tonight also boarding a convoy of buses leaving the southern town of Sidon to make the dangerous journey to Beirut, from where evacuees will set sail on chartered ships.
"It is loading passengers now," the DFAT spokesman said of the convoy.
Officials have been making dashes to rescue Australians from a series of isolated villages - Nabatieh, Khiam, Marjaayoun, Hasbaya, Rachaiya - so they can join the convoy.
The journey north is difficult, because most of the roads and many bridges heading north to the Lebanese capital Beirut have been destroyed by Israeli bombing.
Southern Lebanon is a Hezbollah stronghold and has borne the brunt of Israel's 13 days of military raids against the militant group.
Israeli troops and tanks moved across the border into southern Lebanon over the weekend and are moving slowly north. Reports from the area said the troops had been in heavy battles with Hezbollah fighters.
The Government was unsure how many Australians were looking to leave the south because communication into the region was difficult after the bombing of mobile phone towers, as well as power shortages.
Another three Australian chartered ships, capable of taking about 1500 people, were expected to leave Beirut today.
Last chance
The Government is looking to wind back its evacuation efforts after tomorrow.
Foreign Minister Alexander Downer is urging people in Beirut to take up the opportunity to leave immediately if they want to get out of the country.
"The Government will do its best to assist Australians to depart from Lebanon after 25 July though its capacity to do so will be seriously constrained," Mr Downer said in a statement.
So far the Government has found capacity for Australians on evacuation vessels has exceeded demand.
"Over the past three days, approximately 8000 places have been made available to Australians on evacuation vessels," Mr Downer said.
"To date, around 3700 Australians have departed with the assistance of the Government."
Prime Minister John Howard urged those Australians still in Lebanon to leave without delay and defended criticism of the Government's response to the evacuation effort.
“To my knowledge, there has been no loss of life or serious injury directly attributable to any alleged slowness on the part of any Australian official to get people out,” he said.
More flee
Earlier, hundreds more Australians left Beirut on chartered ferries for ports in Cyprus or Turkey.
They will be put up in hotels before making their way home on charter flights.
Two more planes were due to leave Larnaca airport later today, while an Australian Defence Force C130 would take a load of passengers from the Akrotiri air base south-west of Larnaca, to Turkey, where they have onward travel plans.
About 25,000 dual Australian-Lebanese citizens are believed to be living in the conflict-ravaged nation.
Mr Howard said Australia would consider any requests to send peacekeepers to the troubled country. Mr Downer added that the Federal Government had not discussed the issue as yet.
"We would just have to have a look and see what the circumstances were. If it was a NATO peacekeeping force of some kind, well then, obviously, we're not a member of NATO.
"I think it is more likely it would be a NATO force of some kind or a European force rather than a UN force."
Rice mission
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is flying to Jerusalem in a bid to broker a peace.
"We believe that a ceasefire is urgent," Dr Rice said as she made her way to Israel. "It is however important to have conditions that make it sustainable."
She will push a White House plan under which the US will ease its boycott of Syria if the country abandons its alliance with Iran and Hezbollah and helps force a ceasefire in southern Lebanon.
However, Syrian Information Minister Mohsen Bilal has said Damascus will join the conflict if Israeli ground troops enter Lebanon and approach Syria.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed during fighting with Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon today, the Arabic-language television channel Al-Jazeera reported.
The soldiers were killed and 17 others wounded in clashes near the village of Marun al-Ras, which was seized by Israeli troops at the weekend, it said.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army today said it had seized two Hezbollah guerillas during fighting in the village of Maroun al-Ras in southern Lebanon, believed to be the first prisoners taken in Lebanon during the 12-day-old conflict. The army said they had been taken to Israel.
Civilians have taken the brunt of the war that has cost 369 lives in Lebanon and killed 37 Israelis.
