Lebanon pleads for ceasefire as Israeli raids kill 33
Lebanon’s prime minister, choking back tears, pleaded for a ceasefire but demanded that any UN-drafted plan require a full Israeli withdrawal.
The Lebanese death toll included at least 10 people killed last night in a missile attack on a southern Beirut suburb, considered a Hezbollah stronghold. At least three Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting in southern Lebanon.
The blast in Beirut came just hours after Arab League diplomats wrapped up a crisis meeting that strongly backed Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora’s ceasefire demands. High- level envoys left for the United Nations to press Lebanon’s case.
Mr Saniora opened the gathering with an emotional address that included a stunning claim that more than 40 people had just been killed by Israeli bombs in the border village of Houla.
Later, he said just one person was killed and blamed the error on information from the battlefield, but offered no other explanation.
Mr Saniora has proposed speeding the deployment of Lebanese troops in the south to help stop the fighting. The Lebanese military asked for thousands of reservists to begin reporting on Thursday.
The Lebanese cabinet responded last night, unanimously approving the deployment of 15,000 soldiers to south Lebanon as soon as Israeli troops withdraw.
Mr Saniora got clear backing from Arab nations, which called for changes in a US-French ceasefire plan to include Lebanon’s proposals — led by a demand that Israeli forces leave Lebanon.
Meanwhile, Israeli and Hezbollah guerrillas appeared to press their offensives before any credible truce proposal takes shape.
Hezbollah sent at least 83 missiles into northern Israel, wounding five Israelis, according to Israeli rescue services.
In further evidence of Hezbollah’s expanded attacks, the Israeli army said it downed a Hezbollah drone over the Mediterranean Sea.
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