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Displaced Lebanese flee to mountain villages

Atul Aneja

Europeans evacuated; Annan ponders stronger peace force

— PHOTO: AP

BATTERED: A street in the suburbs of Beirut after Israeli airstrikes in the area on Tuesday.

DUBAI: Fierce fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militant group, Hizbollah, is beginning to trigger a humanitarian crisis as internally displaced Lebanese have begun to seek refuge in mountain villages while foreign nationals await evacuation by ships.

The United Nations' top humanitarian official, Jan Egeland, said air strikes on roads and bridges were hampering help from reaching people fleeing their homes. Refugees from southern Lebanon had begun streaming into the villages in the Chouffe mountains. Many of them were being accommodated in schools as well as private buildings.

Meanwhile, several European countries have started evacuating their nationals. On Tuesday morning, France ferried 1,200 Europeans to the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. An Italian warship transported around 400 persons, while a flotilla of British naval ships was assembling to evacuate around 22,000 people.

Elaborating on a proposed diplomatic initiative to ease tensions, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Tuesday that he envisaged the deployment in south Lebanon of a force which was "considerably" larger than the existing 2,000 peacekeepers that are already positioned in the area. Speaking to reporters at the European Union headquarters in Brussels, he said that the size and the rules of engagement of the force were still being worked out.

Israel sets conditions

Also on Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni linked a possible ceasefire to three conditions. She pointed out that for truce to emerge, Hizbollah would have to return the two Israeli soldiers that it had seized. Instead of Hizbollah, the Lebanese army must be deployed at the Israel-Lebanon border. Besides, the future disarmament of Hizbollah must be guaranteed.

Israeli fighter jets have pounded the Hizbollah stronghold of Baalbek, destroying two buildings and injuring five persons. A church in the southern town of Rashaya al Fukhar was bombarded, wounding six persons. Hizbollah has countered the Israeli attacks by firing rockets targeting a string of towns, including the port city of Haifa. Rockets also struck the city of Safed as well as the town of Tiberias. The death toll in Lebanon has reached 230, while 480 have been wounded. Twenty-four Israelis have so far died in the fighting.

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