Mideast conflict escalates

Israeli commandos struck deep into Lebanon early yesterday, snatching five suspected Hezbollah guerrillas in a helicopter raid that dramatically raised the stakes in the 22-day-old conflict.

“We have carried out this operation to prove that we can hit everywhere in Lebanon,” Israeli army chief of staff Dan Halutz told reporters in the northern border town of Kiryat Shmona, a frequent target of Hezbollah rocket fire. Minutes later, a missile fell near Beit Shean, some 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of the border, Hezbollah’s deepest strike yet into Israel.Israeli police said more than 100 rockets had rained down on northern Israel by noon (0900 GMT).At least 13 of them hit populated areas, one of them killing a resident of the coastal town Nahariya, just south of the Lebanese frontier.Israeli warplanes meanwhile roared back into full-scale action, destroying two bridges in northern Lebanon and killing three Lebanese soldiers in the southern port of Sidon.Israel had called a 48-hour partial halt to air attacks after a raid on the Lebanese village of Qana on Sunday which killed 52 civilians, most of them children.The deaths caused worldwide outrage and prompted calls for an immediate ceasefire.But Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert dismissed the calls and on Tuesday, Israel broadened its offensive on the ground, pouring thousands of crack infantrymen, paratroopers and reserve units into southern Lebanon.Olmert told British television that Israel would continue to fight Hezbollah until an international force – “an effective force made of combat units” – is deployed in south Lebanon.Reflecting international disagreement about how to end the fighting, France described as premature a meeting of potential contributors to a multinational force in Lebanon scheduled for Thursday at UN headquarters in New York.The meeting, which some 40 countries were expected to attend, had already been postponed from Monday to today. Nampa-AFPMinutes later, a missile fell near Beit Shean, some 60 kilometres (37 miles) south of the border, Hezbollah’s deepest strike yet into Israel.Israeli police said more than 100 rockets had rained down on northern Israel by noon (0900 GMT).At least 13 of them hit populated areas, one of them killing a resident of the coastal town Nahariya, just south of the Lebanese frontier.Israeli warplanes meanwhile roared back into full-scale action, destroying two bridges in northern Lebanon and killing three Lebanese soldiers in the southern port of Sidon.Israel had called a 48-hour partial halt to air attacks after a raid on the Lebanese village of Qana on Sunday which killed 52 civilians, most of them children.The deaths caused worldwide outrage and prompted calls for an immediate ceasefire.But Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert dismissed the calls and on Tuesday, Israel broadened its offensive on the ground, pouring thousands of crack infantrymen, paratroopers and reserve units into southern Lebanon.Olmert told British television that Israel would continue to fight Hezbollah until an international force – “an effective force made of combat units” – is deployed in south Lebanon.Reflecting international disagreement about how to end the fighting, France described as premature a meeting of potential contributors to a multinational force in Lebanon scheduled for Thursday at UN headquarters in New York.The meeting, which some 40 countries were expected to attend, had already been postponed from Monday to today. Nampa-AFP