Three killed as Israeli warplanes pound Lebanon

Israeli warplanes struck three buildings in a village near the market town of Nabatiyeh in southern Lebanon as they renewed attacks on suspected Hezbollah targets today, killing three people and wounding nine, including four children, Lebanese security officials said.

Israeli jets fired missiles at a four-storey building that housed a construction company believed owned by a Hezbollah activist, reducing it to rubble, at about 8.30am (6.30am Irish time) in the village of Kfar Jouz, the officials said.

Hussam Abu Shamet, a Jordanian in a nearby house, was killed by missile shrapnel, and four children of Lebanese journalist Ali Dawoud, who also lives nearby, were wounded by flying glass and taken to the hospital, the officials said.

Security officials said a Lebanese couple in a shelter also were killed when a missile struck another building in the area, with the impact from the blast collapsing their hideout on top of them.

The bodies of Hussein Basma and his wife, Anissa Atawi, were retrieved by civil defence personnel from under the rubble of the destroyed three-storey building hours after the missile attack.

It was not known if they had any children kept elsewhere.

Five other people, including three Syrians, were wounded in the series of strikes on the village.

The warplanes have pounded 130 targets in Lebanon, including a Hezbollah base in the Bekaa Valley where long-range rockets were stored, the military said today.

Israeli media reported today that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will return to Israel to discuss the Mideast crisis with the Israeli government.

Israeli jets also staged bombing runs that damaged roads in southeastern Lebanon, and fired missiles near a Lebanese army checkpoint in Ansar village, seven-and-a-half miles from Nabatiyeh, officials said.

Israeli artillery fired more than 40 shells at Arnoun village near a castle with a commanding view of a Lebanon-Israel border area where intense fighting between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas has been occurring.

Israeli jets also fired more than 30 missiles at suspected Hezbollah hideouts in hills and mountainous areas in southeastern Lebanon, security officials said.

Israeli defence forces said aircraft hit a total of 130 targets in Lebanon yesterday and early today, including a Hezbollah base in the Bekaa Valley, where long-range rockets were stored and 57 Hezbollah structures, six missile launching sites and six communication facilities.

At least 438 people have been reported killed in Lebanon since fighting broke out in Lebanon between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas, most of them Lebanese civilians. But Lebanon’s health minister estimated yesterday that as many as Lebanese 600 civilians have been killed so far in the offensive.

Thirty-three Israeli soldiers have died in the fighting and 19 civilians were killed in Hezbollah’s unyielding rocket attacks on Israel’s northern towns, the army said.

The army said today that Israeli troops have killed about 200 Hezbollah guerrillas since fighting began more than two weeks ago. Hezbollah has reported far fewer casualties.

Israel launched its offensive in Lebanon on July 12, after Hezbollah guerrillas overran the border, killed three Israeli soldiers on patrol and captured two others.

Israeli forces also opened an offensive in the Gaza Strip on June 28, three days after Hamas militants attacked Israeli army post in southern Israeli, killing two soldiers and capturing 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

Hezbollah and Hamas have both demanded the release of Hezbollah and Palestinian prisoners in return for freedom for the three Israeli captives, but Israel’s government has said no.

Israel decided yesterday not to expand its ground battle with Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon for now, but the Cabinet authorised the army to call up 30,000 reserve soldiers in case the fighting intensified.

Rice, who was attending a regional security conference in Malaysia today, said she was “willing and ready” to return to the region to work for a sustainable peace agreement.

Israel radio and the Haaretz newspaper reported that Rice will fly to Israel tomorrow night to discuss the Mideast crisis. Haaretz said she plans to meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday. Israel's foreign ministry declined and the US Embassy in Tel Aviv declined to comment about her travel plans.

Rice had been expected to leave Malaysia later today, but a US official said she had changed her departure time until tomorrow.

During a meeting in Rome on Wednesday, Rice faced strong demand from European governments for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon. But she won extra time for Israel’s military campaign against Hezbollah, arguing for a “sustainable” ceasefire, one that would allow Lebanon’s government to assert its authority over Hezbollah’s control of southern Lebanon and diminish the influence of Syria and Iran in Lebanon’s affairs.

US President George Bush has suggested he would support the offensive for as long as it would take to cripple Hezbollah. He also sharply condemned Iran for supporting the guerrillas.

The events signalled that Israel and the United States were settling in for a much longer battle than had initially been expected, one that could grow far bloodier if Israel decides its air attacks and small-scale invasion into Lebanon are not working and sends in thousands of more ground forces.

Justice Minister Haim Ramon said that world leaders’ failure to call for an immediate ceasefire during a Rome summit gave Israel a green light to carry on with its campaign to crush Hezbollah.

Fierce ground battles that raged on Wednesday through the Lebanese border villages of Bint Jbail and Maroun al-Ras appeared to abate, with UN observers reporting only “sporadic fighting” there yesterday.

Early today, Israel ground forces were fighting guerrillas in Bint Jbail, but no casualties were reported.

Meanwhile, the guerrillas continued to launch rockets into northern Israel today, with 10 fired at the towns of Ma’a lot, Karmiel and Safed by midmorning, the army said. No casualties were reported.

Israeli forces also stepped up their defence.

Yesterday, the Israeli military installed a Patriot interceptor missile battery north of Tel Aviv, saying it believes the area could be in range of missiles that Hezbollah has obtained from Syria, Israel Defence Forces said.

The Patriot system can intercept long-range missiles fired at Israel but not the short-range Katyusha rockets, hundreds of which have been fired by Hezbollah from southern Lebanon.