The Islamic Resistance said in a statement that its fighters have destroyed five Israeli tanks, two bulldozers and an armored vehicle Monday afternoon, on the Kafarkila-Odaiseh-Taybeh front, killing and injurig their crews. Earlier, Israeli Maarif daily said that 11 Israeli soldiers were injured in ongoing confrontations between resistance fighters and Israeli forces in the region of “Taybeh.”

The Islamic Resistance said that after the Israeli defeat in Maroun el-Ras, Bint Jbeil and Taybeh, resistance fighters targeted an infiltrating B-9 bulldozer between the town of Kafakila anf Odaiseh, to open a road for tanks. The tank was destroyed and its crew were killed and injured.

And on Monday morning, a convoy of tanks tried to advance between the two Lebanese towns and they were confronted by Islamic Resistance fighters who destroyed two of them while a third one flipped over and crashed on a road in occupied Palestine. The crews of the three tanks were killed and injured.

ALMANAR

Israel has vowed to press ahead with its offensive on Lebanon and launched another incursion, ignoring mounting international pressure for a ceasefire.

Ehud Olmert, the Zionist prime minister, said on Monday that there would be no ceasefire in the war in the coming days.

“The fighting continues. There is no ceasefire and there will not be any ceasefire in the coming days,” he told local officials, to much applause.

“We will stop the war when the [rocket] threat is removed … our captive soldiers return home in peace, and you are able to live in safety and security.

“We are fighting against murderous terrorists and the war will not stop until we clear them from the border.”

He was referring to the Lebanese Shia group that abducted two Israeli troops on June 12 and responded to Israel’s ground and air offensive with rocket attacks.

Israeli officials said earlier that the government wants to pursue its military offensive until an international force arrives because Hezbollah might regroup if there were any pause in the fighting.

Self-declared truce violated

The Israeli military said it had launched a new ground incursion into Lebanon late on Monday, moving troops into the Aita al-Shaab area.

Hezbollah said it was engaging the advancing force in fierce fighting.

Earlier in the day, Israeli jets dropped two bombs to support troops battling Hezbollah inside Lebanon and artillery shells hit two southern villages.

A Lebanese soldier died and three were wounded when another Israeli air strike destroyed their vehicle. And a drone destroyed a truck at the main Lebanon-Syria border crossing.

The Israeli army said it believed that a Hezbollah leader was in the car. “They [the soldiers] were, of course, not the targets and we regret the incident,” it said.

Hezbollah said its fighters hit an Israeli warship with rockets off the coast of the south Lebanese port city of Tyre on Monday, prompting celebratory gunfire to ring out in Beirut.

But an Israeli security source said no warship had been hit.

And an Israeli government official said that Israel had destroyed two-thirds of Hezbollah’s long-range missile capabilities.

AGENCIES

Iran on Sunday said the brutal killing of Lebanese civilians, including women and children in an Israeli air strike in the southern Lebanese village of Qana was an indication of the Zionist regime’s weakness.

At least 60 Lebanese civilians, mostly women and children, were martyred in an Israeli air raid on Qana on Sunday.

Elham expressed the Iranian government and nation’s abhorrence of the “savage attack.”
“The brutal massacre of women and children by the Zionist regime indicates its inability to counter the power of faith of the brave Lebanese people,” he said.

The governments supporting the Zionist regime have prevented an end to the crisis and adoption of measures by the relevant international organizations to stop the aggressions of the Zionist regime over the past 19 days, he added. “These governments have played a direct role in the crimes of the Zionist regime,” he regretted.

“The United States and Britain should be responsive before the world public opinion for the massacre of women and children,” Elham said.

He voiced deep sympathy of the Iranian government and nation with the Lebanese people and government over the tragic event, saying, “This may cause certain indifferent governments to hear the voice of the catastrophe and realize the danger of the genocide by the Zionist regime and its crimes against humanity. They may also feel responsibility towards the depth of the tragedy and fulfill their religious and national duties.”

IRNA

Israel is to expand its offensive against Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon, Amir Peretz, the Israeli defence minister, has said, less than a day after its deadly attack on Qana provoked outrage.

Peretz said in a speech to the Israeli parliament that Israel must not agree to an immediate ceasefire in the almost three-week long conflict, despite a decision on Sunday to observe a 48-hour halt in airstrikes in southern Lebanon.

The suspension followed a wave of protest from around the world over the bombing of a building in the southern town of Qana which killed more than 50 people, including more than 20 children.

But Israeli aircraft carried out raids in the Taibe area of southern Lebanon on Monday to support ground forces fighting Hezbollah guerrillas, the Israeli army said.

Also on Monday, one Lebanese soldier was also killed on Monday and three wounded by Israeli naval fire north of the port city of Tyre, police said.

Three Israeli soldiers were also wounded when Hezbollah fighters attacked two tanks with missiles near the Lebanese border town of Kila, the Israeli army said.

At least two rockets fired by Hezbollah fighters also hit an area near the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, Israeli media reported.

AGENCIES

Israel has suspended its air attacks on southern Lebanon for 48 hours following meetings between Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, and Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister.

The ceasefire began shortly after midnight on Sunday and comes after Israel provoked international outrage when its airforce bombed a building in the village of Qana in southern Lebanon, killing at least 50 civilians, most of them children.

“Israel has agreed to a 48-hour suspension of aerial activity in south Lebanon to investigate today’s tragic incident in Qana,” said Adam Ereli, a US state department spokesman in Jerusalem.

Israel’s ground offensives against Hezbollah positions in southern Lebanon are to continue despite the halt to bombing raids, and Ereli said that Israel retained the right to “take action against targets preparing attacks against it”.

Israel will also coordinate with the United Nations to allow a 24-hour window for residents of southern Lebanon to leave the area if they wish, Ereli said.

The announcement came after Rice held extended meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni in Jerusalem.

Israel’s move followed the cancellation of a visit by Rice to Beirut on Sunday after the Lebanese government said it could not hold negotiations until there was an immediate ceasefire.

The United Nations Security Council said in a statement that it “strongly deplores” the attack on Qana, but stopped short of calling for an immediate end to the fighting.

“The Security Council expresses its concern at the threat of escalation of violence with further grave consequences for the humanitarian situation,” said the statement issued on Sunday.

Qana bombing

The air raid on the southern village of Qana on Sunday - the bloodiest single attack in Israel’s 19-day-old offensive against Hezbollah - aborted Rice’s plans to travel to Beirut after the Lebanese government told her she would not be welcome.

Israel’s UN ambassador Dan Gillerman told the Security Council that Qana was “a hub for Hezbollah” and said Israel had urged villagers to leave.

But Lebanon said Israeli air strikes on roads and vehicles made it impossible for people in the south to flee.

Arab and Islamic leaders condemned the attacks and in Beirut protesters smashed their way into the United Nations headquarters as thousands massed outside chanting “Death to Israel, Death to America”.

Gunmen also stormed and looted the UN compound in Gaza City during a protest over the Qana bombing. At least two people were wounded.

The small village of Qana first came to the world’s attention in 1996 when Israel shelled a UN compound in the village during its ‘Grapes of Wrath’ operation, killing 106 Lebanese civilians who were sheltering there.

AGENCIES

Thousands of Lebanese protesters have stormed the UN building in Beirut in fury after at least 20 children and dozens of other civilians were killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Lebanese town of Qana.

Hundreds of demonstrators ran through corridors in the building smashing offices as they vented their anger of the deaths.

Smoke was seen rising from parts of the building as UN security troops struggled to contain crowds.

The anger erupted after an Israeli bombing raid killed at least 54 people, most of them children, as they slept in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Lebanese media reported that dozens of people remained trapped inside the three-storey building. Some of them had fled the Israeli bombardment of the Lebanese coastal town of Tyre.

Yasir Abu Hilala, Aljazeera’s correspondent in Qana, said aid workers had pulled out only three people alive.

Efforts to get the wounded to hospital have been hampered as all roads around Qana have been destroyed by Israeli air strikes, he said.

The Israeli army has rejected responsibility for the deaths, saying that Hezbollah bore the blame because it used the village as a site for launching rockets.

However Hasan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah MP, told Aljazeera that Israel had committed “a new massacre”.

“This massacre will enhance the Lebanese people’s determination to endure Israeli aggression and will increase the [Hezbollah] resistance’s determination to confront this enemy,” he said.

“Israel is mistaken and deceived if it believes it can break the will of the Lebanese people in this way.”

AGENCIES

At least 20 children are believed to be among more than 40 civilians killed after an Israeli raid destroyed a building in the southern Lebanese town of Qana, Aljazeera’s correspondent reports.

Lebanese media reported that dozens of people remain trapped inside the three-storey building which was sheltering several families, some of whom had fled the Israeli bombardment of the Lebanese coastal town of Tyre.

Yasir Abu Hilala, Aljazeera’s correspondent in Qana, said aid workers had only managed to pull out three people alive.

Efforts to get the wounded to hospital have been hampered as all roads around Qana have been destroyed by Israeli air strikes, he said.

The Israeli army has rejected responsibility for the deaths, saying that Hezbollah bore the blame because it used the village as a site for launching rockets.

However Hasan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah MP, told Aljazeera that Israel had committed “a new massacre”.

“This massacre will enhance the Lebanese people’s determination to endure Israeli aggression and will increase the [Hezbollah] resistance’s determination to confront this enemy,” he said.

“Israel is mistaken and deceived if it believes it can break the will of the Lebanese people in this way.”

New offensive

The attack came as Hezbollah fighters battled Israeli forces making a new thrust into southern Lebanon, Lebanese security sources said on Sunday.

Fighting erupted when Israeli forces crossed the border from the Israeli village of Metula towards the town of Khiam following aircraft and artillery strikes.

The Israeli army said a new wave of Hezbollah rockets hit the Israeli towns of Nahariya, Kiryat Shemona and an area close to Maalot, although no injuries were reported.

An Israeli missile strike hit the main Lebanese border crossing into Syria on Sunday, forcing it to close for the first time since the conflict began more than two weeks ago.

Israeli fighter jets fired three missiles at the Masnaa crossing, which lies about 300m beyond a Lebanese customs post. No casualties were reported in the strike.

The passage has been a vital escape route for tens of thousands of Lebanese fleeing the fighting into Syria after Israel bombed Beirut airport.

Buried bodies

The bodies of eight civilians were found near Tyre following Israeli missile strikes on Saturday, Salam Daher, the Lebanese civil defence chief, said.

Rescue workers say dozens more civilians, including a large number of children, are still buried underneath the rubble of houses destroyed in attacks around the city.

The Lebanese health minister has said the recovery of bodies in the south could raise the death toll from the fighting.

Up to 600 Lebanese people, mainly civilians, are thought to have died in the offensive, while 51 Israelis have also been killed since Israel launched its offensive in mid-July following the kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers and rocket attacks by Hezbollah fighters.

The Israeli military also said on Saturday it had hit several Hezbollah targets, including a missile launchpad it suspected was used to fire a new type of missile that landed in the northern Israeli town of Afula.

Missiles and shells were fired into the Bekaa Valley targeting a bridge and vehicles, Aljazeera’s correspondent said, while Israeli forces pulled back from positions on the outskirts of the Lebanese border town of Bint Jbeil, where nine Israeli soldiers died last week.

Tanks and armoured vehicles left the hills overlooking the town and returned to Marun al-Ras, which was captured by Israeli forces on July 23, police said.

Israel has also continued to bombard Bint Jbeil and nearby Aitarun from Marun al-Ras.

An Israeli army spokeswoman said Israeli troops “have modified their deployment because of the developments on the ground”.

AGENCIES

The Islamic Resistance retaliated to Israeli aggression targeting Lebanese civilians and homes.

Resistance fighters fired a barrage of rockets at the settlements of Safad, Naharya, Tiberias, Maalot, Capri, Shlomi, Ye’ra, Keryat Shmona, and Akko, were according to Israeli media, extensive damage was caused.

In Tiberias, rockets targeted the Delton intelligence base and the Branit base. Israeli media sources said that more than 90 Katyusha rockets fell on northern area today.

Meanwhile sirens were heard in Haifa, Rosh Pina, Carmiel, Abu Snan, Beit Je`an, Western Galilee, and residents were ordered into shelters

Israeli withdrawal

Israel, which is facing tougher than expected resistance from Hezbollah, said on Saturday that it had pulled its forces back from the key Lebanese border town of Bint Jbeil, a Hezbollah stronghold.

ALMANAR/AGENCIES

Hezbollah has fired a new rocket at Israel, striking deeper than ever before, as Israel continued to pound Lebanese targets and battle resistance fighters on the ground.

Hezbollah said it fired a new rocket, called the Khaibar-1, striking near the Israeli town of Afula, south of Haifa on Friday, Aljazeera learned.

Micky Rosenfeld, an Israeli police spokesman, said Hezbollah had fired 97 rockets into Israel on Friday, including an unknown new type that carried 100kg of explosives.

“At least one missile of unknown type carrying around 100kg of explosives hit the town of Afula,” Rosenfeld said.

The attacks hit two homes in northern Israel and wounded three people, the army said.

The strikes came two days after Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah leader, said his group would start a new phase in the battle, striking beyond the Israeli city of Haifa.

The area around Afula, 50km south of the Israeli-Lebanese border area, has been struck before, but Israeli security officials said Friday’s strikes were the southernmost so far.

AGENCIES

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