ISRAEL: Israeli forces continue to shell Lebanon hours before the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Israeli troops continued to gather near the border with Lebanon, pounding southern Lebanon just hours before the arrival of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Monday (July 24). Israel has called up thousands of reserve soldiers and has assembled troops and tanks on its northern border, but the army said its chief, Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz, had not decided whether to launch a major ground incursion. Army sources said forces were continuing to carry out "pinpoint" operations at specific locations close to the Israeli border in southern Lebanon. Earlier on Sunday (July 23) Israeli air raids hit Beirut and east and south Lebanon, killing nine civilians and wounding 100, many of them in Tyre. Two people were killed and 20 wounded when Hizbollah rockets hit houses and vehicles in Haifa, Israel's third largest city. About 50 people were wounded in similar attacks in at least 10 other towns across northern Israel. The Israeli army said it had seized two Hizbollah guerrillas during fighting in the village of Maroun al-Ras in southern Lebanon, believed to be the first prisoners taken in Lebanon during the 12-day-old conflict. Rice, who set out on Sunday (July 23) evening for the Middle East, has said she will pursue a lasting solution, not an immediate ceasefire. Washington blames Hizbollah and its allies, Syria and Iran, for the conflict. The war in Lebanon has displaced half a million people. Others are trapped by fighting, especially in border villages. More than 1,000 Hizbollah rockets have killed 17 Israeli civilians, prompting between a third to a half of all residents in northern Israel to escape the bombardment, officials said. Twenty Israeli soldiers have also been killed.

ITN Source | July 24, 2006

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