Israel Expands Raids After Hezbollah Rocket Attacks (Update3)

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Written by Benji

Aug. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Israeli ground forces fought Hezbollah militiamen near the border in southern Lebanon after the group fired 231 rockets into northern Israel, its highest single-day volley since the conflict began July 12.

Hezbollah's al-Manar TV said there was ``fierce'' combat overnight in an attempt to prevent soldiers capturing the town of Ayta al-Shab. Aircraft attacked 100 sites in southern Lebanon, the Israeli military said.

Most of the rockets fired yesterday landed in eight towns or cities, including Haifa, Carmiel, Kiryat Shmona, Tiberia and Afula, according to a military spokeswoman who spoke on condition of anonymity. One person was killed and 49 were injured. Most of those hurt were treated for shock, the military said.

``If we have to go deeper into Lebanon, then we'll go deeper,'' Lieutenant General Dan Halutz, Israel's military chief of staff, told reporters yesterday in remarks broadcast from Beit Hillel, about 8 kilometers (5 miles) south of the border.

As many as 8,000 soldiers were sent across the border, the Associated Press reported. The deployment followed a commando raid yesterday on Baalbeck, a thrust into eastern Lebanon, where Israel said it captured five Hezbollah fighters and killed 19.

Israeli aircraft raided a suburb of Beirut early today in the first strike on the Lebanese capital in almost a week, AP reported, citing unidentified witnesses in the city.

Litani River

Residents in villages near the Litani River were advised to leave, the army said. The area lies about 29 kilometers inside Lebanon and an operation there would be Israel's deepest incursion into the territory. Ground fighting has been centered around villages adjacent to Israel's border.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said last week Israel wants to establish a two-kilometer strip from the border into southern Lebanon that is free of Hezbollah fighters. Israel hasn't launched a full-scale military attack on Lebanon or Hezbollah since its troops were pulled out of a swathe of southern Lebanon held for 18 years until May 2000.

Prospects for a diplomatic solution receded after Olmert said Israel wouldn't agree to stop fighting until a United Nations-backed peacekeeping force large enough to contain Hezbollah is deployed. The UN postponed a meeting to discuss the force when the French government said the world body must first agree on truce terms.

U.S. President George W. Bush discussed the status of negotiations on a UN resolution with U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair late yesterday, said White House spokesman Tony Snow.

``We generally think we're pretty close, but we still have sequencing concerns,'' Snow said, referring to when peacekeepers would go to the region. Negotiations on a resolution may stretch into next week, he said.

Little Progress

The UN has made little progress toward a cease-fire since U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left Israel July 31 after failing to broker an agreement. A resolution drafted by France, which administered Lebanon from after World War I until 1944, calls for an immediate cease-fire. The U.S. has resisted such a truce until a political framework is in place to disarm Hezbollah and bar the group from control of southern Lebanon.

The Organization of the Islamic Conference, which includes Syria, Pakistan and Malaysia, today demanded an immediate cease- fire. The 57-nation group is meeting in Malaysia in the largest gathering of Muslim nations since the fighting began. The European Union two days ago said there must be an immediate end to the conflict.

Death Toll

At least 570 Lebanese have been killed in the fighting began, according to police in Lebanon, and 52 Israelis, according to the military and police in Israel. Hundreds of thousands of people have been forced from their homes by Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel and Israeli air raids in Lebanon. A Lebanese police spokesman said 2,131 people have been injured.

Hezbollah, founded in 1982, is sponsored by Syria and Iran. It has been linked to scores of terrorist attacks on Israelis and Americans, including rocket assaults on Israeli towns, the 1983 bombings that killed 241 U.S. and 58 French soldiers in Beirut, and the 1994 attack that killed 85 people at a Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

The group has 23 seats Lebanon's parliament. While participating in politics, Hezbollah has defied a UN Security Council resolution that calls for the disarming and disbanding of militias in Lebanon.

``Israel has clearly damaged Hezbollah,'' former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger said on the ``Charlie Rose'' show. ``Israel can achieve significant military gains.''

Israeli ground troops are trying to root out Hezbollah fighters from the border strip and create a zone that might be patrolled by multinational forces.

``We have no intention to occupy Lebanon,'' Air Force Brigadier General Ido Nehushtam said yesterday. ``We moved out six years ago now we have to create a new reality.''

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