Lebanon pleads for ceasefire as Israeli raids kill 33

ISRAELI warplanes intensified air strikes and launched a new commando raid in south Lebanon yesterday, killing at least 33 people in one of the heaviest tolls in days.

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.