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Israel orders heavier air attacks

Atul Aneja

Two Hizbollah rockets hit Haifa; Al-Qaeda vows to launch world-wide offensive

BEIRUT: Israel has recalibrated its tactics in Lebanon, favouring heavier air strikes and shelling before committing its troops on the ground.

The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting on Thursday — a day after Israel lost nine soldiers during fierce fighting in the Hizbollah stronghold of Bint Jbeil.

Israeli Justice Haim Ramon said the 15-nation conference held in Rome on Wednesday, which failed to agree on an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon, had given Israel the permission to "continue the operation."

Contrary to earlier Israeli claims, the embattled Hizbollah stronghold of Bint Jbeil has not fallen. However, by late evening on Thursday, Israeli soldiers were apparently preparing to encircle the town. Israeli army has warned thousands of residents next to the town to leave immediately.

Israel wants to create a 3.2-km "security zone" inside Lebanon. Once it was firmly secured, it is hoping that international forces comprising North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) troops would be deployed in the area.

In the fierce fighting, Hizbollah forces appear to have adopted classical guerilla tactics. A network of tunnels, which the Israeli forces have been unable to destroy so far, has connected the Hizbollah posts.

Out of the nine Israeli soldiers killed on Wednesday, eight died in an elaborate ambush carried out by the group.

On Thursday, there was no let-up in the Hizbollah attacks on northern Israel. Two rockets landed in the Israeli industrial hub of Haifa, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. In another attack, 10 persons were injured in the northern Israeli settlements. A Hizbollah projectile also targeted a detergent plant in the northern town of Kiryat Shemona.

The fighting in southern Lebanon has triggered a wave of refugees. According to a spokesperson for the Lebanese Higher Relief Council, the war had displaced 550,000 people.

Most of the internally displaced are said to be Lebanese, but the affected included 20,000 third country nationals, and some 1,000 Palestinians. Among the refugees, around 32,465 were in Beirut, while 24,151 were in southern Lebanon.

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