LEBANON: Battles rage in Lebanon on eve of UN truce

Israeli troops fought ferocious battles with Hizbollah guerrillas across several areas of Lebanon on Sunday (August 13, 2006), a day before a ceasefire was due to take effect. The United Nations said Israeli and Lebanese leaders had agreed that a truce would take effect at 0500 GMT on Monday (August 14). Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Saturday (August 12) his guerrillas would observe a truce but reserved the right to fight Israeli soldiers still on Lebanese soil. Lebanon rejected initial drafts of a UN resolution to end the fighting because they did not call for an immediate Israeli withdrawal. The resolution approved by the Security Council on Friday calls for a "full cessation of hostilities" and for Israel to withdraw its troops "at the earliest". As they withdraw, 15,000 Lebanese soldiers and an expanded international force of 15,000 foreign troops, likely to be led by France, will be deployed. Dubai-based Al Arabiya television reported that seven Israeli soldiers had been killed in the latest fighting. Hizbollah said it ambushed an Israeli force in the border village of Aaita al-Shaab, inflicting 25 casualties. The Israeli army had no immediate comment on both incidents. In the coastal city of Tyre, Israeli jets and artillery continued their bombardment on Sunday. Five people, including a mother and her three children, were killed when a house was struck near Tyre, sources said. Rescue workers were still searching through the rubble, for more bodies or survivors hours after the strike. Three petrol stations were also hit south of Tyre. Residents said the shelling was one of the most intense since the fighting erupted a month ago. As the fighting continues, so does the struggle for aid agencies to deliver much-needed aid. In Beirut, two ships carrying aid for the United Nations World Food Programme arrived at the city's port. The aid, including food and water, will be delivered to refugees in and around Beirut that fled their homes and villages during the four weeks of fighting. The first ship called "Anamcara" brought food such as rice, sugar, oil, powder milk, drinking water and other supplies - aid donated by Italy, Germany and Cyprus. 'Kazima', a second ship, arrived from Turkey, carrying lentils and pasta. With a truce in sight, aid workers said they hoped they would have better access to areas isolated by the bombardment. "With a ceasefire we hope we can be more efficient and transport more quickly. As I said Nabatieh is normally a trip that should be done in one day back and forth and the last convoy we completed two days, it took three days to be done," said WFP director in Lebanon Thomas Je Keusters. The UN's World Food Programme said it sent two convoys to the southern city of Sidon and one should proceed on Monday to Tyre, a port south of the Litani cut off from the north when Israel bombed the last main crossing a week ago. Also on Sunday, Israeli warplanes pounded Al-Nahri and Tal al-Abyad areas at the entrance of Baalbek in the Bekaa Valley, killing 8 civilians and wounding 14 others witnesses said. Witnesses said that the attack was one of the fiercest on Baalbek as Israeli warplanes fired at least 18 missiles at the area. Several buildings and streets were damaged in the area. In the north of Lebanon, Israeli missiles hit the market area in Halba and the main headquarters for Lebanese troops in the Akkar area, wounding at least seven people. Saturday was the deadliest day of the month-old war for the Israeli army, with 19 soldiers killed and five missing and feared dead after their helicopter was shot down by Hizbollah. At least 1,078 people in Lebanon and 144 Israelis, including 104 soldiers, have been killed in the war.

ITN Source | August 13, 2006

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