Israeli troops clash with Hezbollah in Lebanon

ISRAELI troops clashed with Hezbollah guerrillas on the Lebanese side of the border yesterday, while warplanes flattened buildings and at least 50 people were killed as fighting entered its second week.

The bombardment continued as night fell.

Two young brothers were killed by a Hezbollah rocket in the Israeli holy city of Nazareth, authorities said.

In addition to the deaths of the two brothers, aged three and nine, there were 18 people wounded in the rocket attacks in Nazareth, a mainly Arab city that’s the biblical hometown of Jesus.

Elsewhere, the European Union urged Hezbollah to release the two Israeli soldiers it captured on July 12, sparking the conflict.

In the US, President George W Bush turned his attention to Hezbollah-backer Syria, saying he suspects it was trying to reassert influence in Lebanon more than a year after withdrawing its troops under UN pressure.

“It’s in our interest for Syria to stay out of Lebanon and for this government to survive,” Mr Bush said, referring to Prime Minister Fuad Saniora’s fledgling government.

“Syria’s trying to get back into Lebanon, it looks like, seems to me,” he said. “The world must deal with Hezbollah, with Syria and to continue to isolate Iran.”

Israeli military officials said troops crossed the border in search of tunnels and weapons.

Hezbollah claimed to have ‘repelled’ Israeli forces near the coastal border town of Naqoura, and the Israeli army said two of its soldiers had been killed and nine were wounded in the fierce firefight. Hezbollah said one guerrilla was killed.

Israeli bombers, which had been focusing on Hezbollah strongholds in southern Beirut, also hit a Christian suburb on the eastern side of the capital for the first time. The target was a truck-mounted machine used to drill for water but could have been mistaken for a missile launcher. The vehicle was destroyed, but nobody was hurt.

Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Dan Gillerman, said the troop deployment ‘was in no way an invasion.’ However, the army’s deputy chief of staff, Major General Moshe Kaplinski, has said Israel had not ruled out sending ‘massive ground forces’ into Lebanon.

Israel, which has mainly limited itself to attacks from the air and sea, had been reluctant to send in ground troops because Hezbollah is far more familiar with the terrain and because of memories of Israel’s ill-fated 18-year occupation of south Lebanon ending in 2000.

Israel said on Tuesday it was ready to fight the guerrillas for several more weeks, raising doubts about international efforts to broker an immediate cease-fire.

Israel stressed it did not plan to target Hezbollah’s main sponsors, Iran and

Syria.

“We will leave Iran to the world community, and Syria as well,” Vice Premier Shimon Peres told Army Radio. “It’s very important to understand that we are not instilling world order.”