Israel Hints at Full-Scale Invasion
    By Hussein Dakroub
    The Associated Press

    Thursday 20 July 2006

    Beirut, Lebanon - Israeli troops met fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas Thursday as they crossed into Lebanon to seek tunnels and weapons for a second straight day, and Israel hinted at a full-scale invasion.

    Israel warned residents to "immediately" flee a nearly 20-mile swath of south Lebanon along the border. Its warplanes also launched new airstrikes on Beirut's southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, shortly after daybreak, followed by strikes in the guerrillas' heartland in the south and eastern Bekaa Valley.

    The planes also bombed large parts of the south, from which Hezbollah guerrillas fired more rockets into Israel. On Wednesday, Israeli bombings killed as many as 70 people, according to Lebanese television, making it the deadliest day since the fighting began July 12.

    A large fight between Israeli forces and Hezbollah guerrillas broke out Thursday evening on the Lebanese side of the border, the Israeli army said, adding that its troops suffered casualties but did not elaborate. Hezbollah's Al-Manar television said three Israeli soldiers were killed and 10 wounded in fighting.

    The forces crossed the border as part of ongoing operations to push back Hezbollah guerrillas who have continued firing rockets into northern Israel despite more than a week of massive bombardment.

    UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the Security Council that "hostilities must stop" between Israel and Hezbollah. He also condemned Israel's "excessive use of force" in Lebanon.

    "There are serious obstacles to reaching a cease-fire or even to diminishing the violence quickly," Annan said.

    The fighting had triggered a humanitarian crisis, he added. The UN estimated that about a half-million have been displaced in Lebanon, with 130,000 fleeing to Syria and about 45,000 believed to be in need of assistance.

    Russia sharply criticized Israel's onslaught, now in its ninth day, sparked when Hezbollah militants captured two Israeli soldiers. Moscow said Israel's actions have gone "far beyond the boundaries of an anti-terrorist operation."

    At least 306 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel's campaign began, according to Lebanese officials. At least 29 Israelis have been killed, including 14 soldiers.

    About 40 US Marines landed in Beirut to help Americans onto the USS Nashville, which will carry 1,200 evacuees bound for Cyprus in the second mass US exodus from Lebanon. It was the first US military deployment in Lebanon in 22 years.

    Thousands of Europeans also fled on ships - continuing one of the largest evacuation operations since World War II. An estimated 13,000 foreign nationals have been evacuated.

    More than 600 relatives of UN peacekeepers and other foreigners were evacuated by ship from the southern port of Tyre, a region that has been pounded for days by Israeli warplanes and gunboats.

    Hezbollah guerrillas fired 25 rockets into Israel on Thursday. Although they caused no casualties, the continued rocket barrage raised the question of whether Israeli air power alone can suppress them.

    The guerrillas have been fighting back hard on the ground, wounding three Israeli soldiers. An Israeli unit sent in to ambush Hezbollah guerrillas also had a fierce gunbattle with a cell of militants.

    In another clash, just across the border from the Israeli town of Avivim, guerrillas fired a missile at an Israeli tank, seriously wounding a soldier. Hezbollah said its guerrillas destroyed two tanks trying to enter the Lebanese border village of Maroun al-Ras, across from Avivim.

    In the Gaza Strip, where Israel has been fighting for three weeks after one of its soldiers was captured, Israeli forces killed three people and wounded six Thursday. Nine people - eight of them militants - were killed a day earlier.

    Israel has mainly limited itself to attacks in Lebanon from the air and sea, reluctant to send in ground troops on terrain dominated by Hezbollah.

    But an Israeli army spokesman refused to rule out the possibility of a full-scale invasion. Israel broadcast warnings Wednesday into south Lebanon, telling civilians south of the Litani River to "leave their areas immediately for their own safety" - a possible prelude to a larger ground operation.

    "There is a possibility - all our options are open. At the moment, it's a very limited, specific incursion but all options remain open," Capt. Jacob Dallal, an Israeli army spokesman, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.