Battles continue to rage in southern Lebanon

Battles between Israeli forces and Hezbollah militia raged today across southern Lebanon as diplomats at the United Nations struggled to keep a peace plan from collapsing over Arab demands for an immediate Israeli withdrawal.

But military planners in Jerusalem said they plan to push even deeper into Lebanon to target rocket sites.

Attempts to draw a ceasefire blueprint came down to a test between a step-by-step proposal backed by Washington and Lebanon’s insistence – supported by Arab nations – that nothing can happen before Israeli soldiers leave the country. In New York, Arab envoys and UN Security Council members tried to hammer out a compromise.

Lebanon put its offer on the table: pledging up to 15,000 troops to a peacekeeping mission in southern Lebanon after Israel pulls back. The plan had added significance since it was backed by the two Hezbollah members on Lebanon’s Cabinet – apparently showing a willingness for a pact by the Islamic militants and their main sponsors, Iran and Syria.

Israel’s prime minister, Ehud Olmert, called the proposed Lebanese troop deployment “interesting” and said Israel would favour leaving southern Lebanon once it considers that Hezbollah is no longer a direct threat.

But the rocky hills of southern Lebanon gave a different picture. Ground fighting continued to control key villages and strategic ridges near the Israeli border, including sites used by Hezbollah for rocket barrages that have reached deep into Israel during the heaviest Arab-Israeli battles in 24 years.

Fierce skirmishes broke out around the village of Bint Jbail, a Hezbollah stronghold that Israeli has tried to control for weeks. An Israeli solider and 15 Hezbollah guerrillas were killed in the fighting, the Israeli military said. The militant group was not immediately available for comment.

Hezbollah TV also reported pre-dawn attacks on Israeli forces near the Mediterranean city Naqoura, about two-and-a-half miles north of the border. The report claimed Israeli soldiers were killed and injured.

The Israeli army confirmed clashes and casualties in western Lebanon, but did not say whether it or Hezbollah had suffered losses. It also did it give the location of the fighting.

Israel, meanwhile, expanded air strikes around Lebanon, including the Hezbollah heartland in the Bekka Valley.

The clashes followed one of the bloodiest days of the four-week conflict. At least three Israeli soldiers and 49 Lebanese died yesterday on both sides - including 10 in a rocket attack in a Beirut suburb just hours after Arab League foreign ministers wrapped up a crisis meeting that threw its full diplomatic weight behind Lebanon.

It set the baseline demand for the Security Council: a full Israeli withdrawal or no peace deal is possible. The message was given in a tearful address by Lebanon’s prime minister, Fuad Saniora, and carried to the United Nations by Arab League envoys.

Saniora’s government, which includes two Hezbollah ministers, voted unanimously to send 15,000 troops to stand between Israel and Hezbollah should a ceasefire take hold and Israeli forces withdraw.

The move was an attempt to show that Lebanon has the will and ability to assert control over its south, where Hezbollah rules with near autonomy bolstered by channels of aid and weapons from Iran and Syria. Lebanon has avoiding any attempt to implement a two-year-old UN resolution calling for the disarmament of Hezbollah, fearing it could touch off widespread unrest.

But now the prospect of a protracted war with Israel is even more worrisome.

The coming days should offer signs on whether a ceasefire plan has a chance.

The original proposal, drafted by the United States and France, demanded a “full cessation of hostilities” on both sides and a buffer zone in southern Lebanon patrolled by Lebanese forces and UN troops. But the plan did not specifically call for a withdrawal. Critics said it would give room for Israeli defensive operations.

France’s UN ambassador, Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, promised yesterday to take into account Lebanon’s stance. But he did not say whether France was prepared to add such language to the text.

Washington and Paris were expected to circulate a new draft in response to amendments proposed by Qatar, the only Arab nation on the 15-nation Security Council, and other members, diplomats said. A vote is not expected before tomorrow at the earliest.

The proposed changes include a call for Israeli forces to pull out of Lebanon once the fighting stops and hand over their positions to UN peacekeepers. Arab states also want the UN to take control of the disputed Chebaa Farms area, which Israel seized in 1967.

Qatar’s foreign minister, Hamad bin Jassem Al Thani, warned of “a civil war in Lebanon” between Hezbollah and government forces if the Security Council does not make changes to the US-French draft resolution. “This is what we don’t want to happen and Lebanon won’t bear it,” he said, speaking on the Al-Jazeera network.

In Texas, US President George Bush said yesterday any ceasefire must prevent Hezbollah from strengthening its grip in southern Lebanon, asserting “it’s time to address root causes of problems.” He urged the United Nations to work quickly to approve a US-French draft resolution to stop the hostilities.

Israel sent mixed signals.

The government said it was studying Lebanon’s pledge to contribute troops to a potential peacekeeping force.

But just hours earlier, Defence Minister Amir Peretz outlined plans to drive deeper into Lebanon to try to destroy Hezbollah rocket batteries – which have kept up a near relentless barrage on northern Israel and forced people in some areas to only venture out of bomb shelters for supplies and fresh air.

A senior government official today offered to pay for move up to 17,000 Israelis living in border towns.

Peretz said a new Israeli push – expected to be approved by Israel’s Security Cabinet tomorrow – would extend as far as the Litani River, about 18 miles north of the Israel-Lebanon border.

The Israeli army said it declared an indefinite curfew on the movement of vehicles south of the Litani. Humanitarian traffic would be allowed, but other vehicles would be at risk if they ignored the order, the army said.

Besides Hezbollah’s rocket arsenal, Israel also is facing new threats.

Yesterday, the Israeli air force shot down a Hezbollah drone for the first time, sending its wreckage plunging into the sea, the army said. Israeli media reported that the unmanned aircraft had the capacity to carry 90lbs of explosives, nearly as much as the more powerful rockets Hezbollah has been firing into Israel. Unlike the rockets, the drone has a guidance system to for accurate targeting.

In other developments:

- German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier left today on a three-day trip to meet with Lebanese, Israeli and Palestinian officials. He is expected to urge all sides to back UN efforts for the ceasefire.