LEBANON: As Israeli attacks continue, foreign aid begins but many Lebanese civilians continue to flee

The Israeli bombardment of Lebanon continued on Friday (July 21) as thousands of Lebanese civilians fled north after Israel warned them to leave border villages and called up 3,000 army reserves in a possible prelude to a ground offensive against Hizbollah guerrillas. Lebanese soldiers were injured after Israel shelled the southern town of Marjeyoun. Other civilians were injured when the northern town of Baalbek was hit. Israel has so far failed to stop Hizbollah cross-border rocket attacks, despite a 10-day bombardment which has killed 344 people in Lebanon, forced half a million to leave their homes and destroyed many of the country's vital installations. Amid mounting world alarm at the crisis, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to leave for the Middle East on Sunday (July 23) in what diplomats called a bid to reduce the fighting. Israel's main ally, the United States, has rebuffed Lebanon's appeals for an immediate U.N.-backed ceasefire, saying this would not last unless Hizbollah, which is backed by Syria and Iran, is prevented from attacking the Jewish state. Lebanon's defence minister said the army, which has not fought so far despite losing a score of soldiers in Israeli air strikes, would defend the country against invasion. U.N. relief agencies, in a clear appeal to Israel, on Friday called for safe passage to take vital medical supplies and food to tens of thousands of people who have fled their homes amid Israeli bombing in Lebanon. The agencies also warned that disease could sweep through packed refugee centres and overwhelmed hospitals unless Israel promised it would not attack trucks ready to take in water purification and sanitation supplies. Israel said on Thursday it had been in contact with U.N. agencies and relevant non-government organisations (NGOs) to try to facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid to Lebanon, on which it has imposed a blockade. The Swiss-based International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said it had sent two trucks early on Friday with 24 tonnes of food, first aid kits and medicine from Beirut to the southern port of Tyre, where the main hospital is overwhelmed. But agencies said roads, including routes along which supplies could flow from U.N. bases in Syria and Jordan, were still being bombed as Israel pressed its drive to force Hizbollah forces out of south Lebanon. Meanwhile, Lebanese civilians were buried on Friday (July 21) in a mass grave in the grounds of the mortuary at Tyre, scene of Israeli attacks on the Lebanese city. Also in southern Lebanon a bridge at Ekleem Eltofah was reduced to rubble and a number of shops were destroyed. Italians were preparing to leave the area on Friday. They draped a large Italian flag over their coach before boarding. Israel began its assault after Hizbollah captured two soldiers and killed eight in a cross-border raid on July 12. It has also waged a military campaign in Gaza since June 28 to recover another soldier, seized by Palestinian militants. Hizbollah's rocket attacks have killed 15 civilians in Israel, which has also lost 19 soldiers in the conflict. Israeli jets bombed Shi'ite districts in Beirut, the eastern Bekaa Valley and southern Lebanon around sunrise on Friday and hit a previously bombed bridge on the Beirut-Damascus highway. At least eight people were killed, bringing the Lebanese death toll to 344, based on revised Health Ministry figures. Lebanese civilians were being buried on Friday (July 21) in a mass grave in the grounds of the mortuary at Tyre, scene of Israeli attacks on the Lebanese city. Also in southern Lebanon a bridge at Ekleem Eltofah was reduced to rubble and a number of shops were destroyed. Italians were preparing to leave the area on Friday. They draped a large Italian flag over their coach before boarding.

ITN Source | July 22, 2006

Tags:. .appeal. .italians. .eastern. .routes. .meanwhile