Hezbollah today denounced a UN decision to form an international tribunal in former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri’s assassination as a “violation” of the nation’s sovereignty.

ISRAEL yesterday suffered its heaviest losses in Lebanon in its offensive against Hezbollah, with militants killing eight soldiers in a battle for a key town.

Hezbollah fighters battled today to stop Israeli forces from capturing the southern Lebanese town of Bint Jbail, where Arab TV stations reported that up to 12 Israeli soldiers had been killed.

United Nations secretary general Kofi Annan was at the centre of a diplomatic storm today after accusing Israel of deliberately bombing a UN observer post in southern Lebanon, killing at least two peacekeepers.

A senior Hezbollah official said tonight that the guerrilla group did not expect Israel to react so strongly to its capture of its two soldiers last month.