TYRE, Lebanon, 16 July 2006 — The child was holding a sandwich when an Israeli missile killed him and 19 other people fleeing their Lebanese border village in a van. Two little blackened hands could be seen still clutching the bread to the child’s chest when UN peacekeepers recovered the corpse along with the bodies of some of the others.

Half the passengers were children or teenagers, according to medical sources. It was the deadliest single strike since Israel launched an air campaign against Lebanon after two of its soldiers were captured by Hezbollah militants on Wednesday.

Relatives gathered at a hospital to identify the dead said they came from two families — Abdallah and Ghanem — and were trying to escape their village of Marwaheen. The families had fled after the Israeli Army told residents they had just hours to leave. Around 100 residents showed up at a nearby base of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon seeking shelter but went home after officials were unable to confirm the warning by Israel, UNFIL spokesman Milos Strugar told Reuters.

Other residents had tried later to leave and were killed in the missile strike, Strugar said, adding Lebanese authorities had asked UNIFIL to help evacuate 120-160 people remaining in Marwaheen. They would be relocated in the morning. Relatives blamed UNIFIL for the deaths, pelting peacekeepers with stones when they arrived with the bodies after the strike. “If they had taken people in to begin with then they would never have died,” said Mohammed Oqla, who was at the hospital.

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora called for an immediate cease-fire, saying Israeli attacks had turned Lebanon into a disaster area in need of international aid. “We call for an immediate cease-fire backed by the United Nations,” Siniora said in a televised message to the nation. “I declare today that Lebanon is a disaster zone in need of a comprehensive and speedy Arab plan ... and (it) pleads to its friends in the world to rush to its aid.”

“We call (for) ... work to extend the state’s authority over all its territories, in cooperation with the United Nations in south Lebanon,” a visibly emotional Siniora said. The UN maintains a peacekeeping force in south Lebanon where Hezbollah guerrillas are active.

Beirut residents stocked up on food and thousands of people fled the Lebanese capital yesterday to seek safety in the mountains as Israel pursued its onslaught on the country. Israeli jets struck across Lebanon for the fourth consecutive day, with no apparent hope for a halt to the attacks which have killed almost 90 civilians and destroyed roads and bridges as well as closing the international airport.

“Israel’s premier gave the green light for more attacks and Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah has declared an ‘open war’, while the whole world seems either helpless or not to care about this madness,” said businessman Osama Haddad. After a night of relative calm, traffic was slow across Beirut where families were stocking up on necessities and bracing for an escalation of attacks as Israel tightened its squeeze on the country.

Families were stocking up on food and medicines for the siege, although many shops stayed shut. Cars lined up at fuel stations across the city where Beirutis were grappling to prepare contingency plans for power cuts which have already started after Israel bombed a power station on Thursday. “We fear this is the calm before the storm,” said Salim Hajjar, who was buying groceries, batteries and candles.

Huge crowds were seen at the Beirut offices of the grounded national carrier Middle East Airlines. The evacuation of foreign nationals has also raised fears among the Lebanese of a prolonged conflict — reminiscent of Israeli offensives over the past decades that caused a massive exodus and destruction.

“Lebanese brace for long war,” said the English-language Daily Star. The country was nearly virtually cut off from the outside world, after Israeli forces raided Beirut international airport and imposed a navy blockade along the coasts. Traveling by land was also dangerous after Israeli airstrikes on the highway leading to neighboring Syria where thousands of tourists from Lebanon have been fleeing in droves.