BEIRUT, 22 July 2006 — Israel mobilized thousands more troops yesterday after warning it could launch a ground invasion of Lebanon to defeat Hezbollah, despite calls for a cease-fire and predictions of humanitarian catastrophe.
Terror-stricken and exhausted residents of Lebanon’s battered south waved white scarves as they streamed to safer havens further north, with Israel issuing another warning for them to flee the frontier zone.
Despite criticism of US support for the bombardment, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reaffirmed her rejection of the “false promise” of a cease-fire but said she would travel to the region tomorrow in search of a long-term solution.
/Lebanon said its army was ready to go into battle if Israel invaded, an action that would sharply raise the stakes in a conflict that has killed close to 340 people in Lebanon and forced over half a million to leave their homes. “The Lebanese Army will resist and defend the country and prove that it is an army worthy of respect,” said Defense Minister Elias Murr, whose forces have so far stood on the sidelines of the conflict.
Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz had warned that Israel would launch a full-scale ground invasion “without thinking twice” if necessary to crush Hezbollah, which has long been a thorn in the side of the Jewish state.
Israeli Army spokesman Capt. Yaacov Dalal said the aim of the call-up of some 3,000 reservists was to “clean up the border zone on the Lebanese side by limited operations aiming to destroy Hezbollah’s infrastructure.” Dalal said the operations on the ground were “indispensable because the air force cannot always destroy underground bunkers dug by Hezbollah, which has put in place an entire fortified network.”
He added that a major ground attack into Lebanon had not been ruled out.
Israeli combat jets and artillery were back in action in raids that killed four people in the eastern town of Baalbek — a Hezbollah stronghold near the site of ancient Roman temple ruins — and one in the southern port city of Tyre.
Two Israelis were also seriously wounded when rockets fired from Lebanon exploded in the northern port city of Haifa, the latest salvos in a deluge of nearly 1,000 rocket attacks since cross-border violence flared on July 12.
The latest bloodshed came despite a call from UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Thursday for an immediate cease-fire after the worst cross-border fighting in a quarter century that has also killed 33 Israelis.
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah issued a defiant new message that Israel’s firepower was failing to dent his movement and vowed he would only release two captured Israeli soldiers in a prisoner swap.
=Another soldier was killed when two combat helicopters collided.
French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy, on a visit to the region, issued appeals for a cease-fire and help for civilians, warning that the escalating conflict could lead to a “catastrophe.”
Thousands of Lebanese, in cars, trucks and minibuses, are still fleeing southern Lebanon, where Israel’s massive bombardment has left a trail of destruction and raised fears of a shortage of food and medicines.
“We cheated death when a missile nearly destroyed our house. We fled without taking anything, without bread or drinking water,” said Mohammad Ali Boussa who fled his village with his family and neighbors in a van covered with a white sheet.
Israel has imposed an air and sea blockade on Lebanon, put its only international airport out of action, bombed houses, roads, bridges, factories, warehouses and trucks, creating scenes reminiscent of the 1975-1990 civil war. “The most basic human rights of the population are at risk or are being violated, including their rights to life, health and food,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbor said.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he was willing to open up a humanitarian corridor to ease the crisis.
Lebanon also called on the United Nations to protect the country’s archaeological treasures — the World Heritage sites of Baalbek and Tyre — from Israel’s aerial onslaught.
With no sign the international community is closer to brokering a cease-fire despite Annan’s call, thousands of foreigners are continuing to be evacuated by sea to Cyprus while others pour across the border into Syria.
US Marines were out in force in Beirut for the first time in 22 years to help take American citizens to the neighboring island of Cyprus which is being used as the center in one of the biggest mass evacuations since World War II.
The tiny Mediterranean island is however reeling from the influx, battling to find temporary accommodation and flights for the estimated 70,000 people expected to arrive from Lebanon at the height of the holiday season.
A despondent Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora, who has issued desperate appeals for help from the international community, said there was no apparent settlement to end hostilities and blamed Israel’s top ally in Washington. “The United States is allowing Israel to pursue its aggression,” he told AFP in an interview.
Despite criticism of US support for the bombardment, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reaffirmed her rejection of the “false promise” of a cease-fire but said she would travel to the region tomorrow in search of a long-term solution.
Rice said she would meet Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on the trip to the region and would then head to Rome for international talks on the crisis.
Once more rejecting EU and Arab calls for an immediate cease-fire, Rice said: “I think we are beginning to see outlines of a political framework that might allow the cessation of violence in a more sustainable way.
Israel, which has sent ground troops back into Lebanon for the first time since it ended its 22-year occupation in May 2000, has also been emboldened by strong public support at home.
A poll published yesterday found that 95 percent believed that the military action against Hezbollah was “justified and correct.”
“All of Israel’s claims to have hit half of our missile potential and arsenal are nothing but erroneous words,” Nasrallah said, warning of “more surprises” to come. “The leadership of Hezbollah has not been touched.”
Israeli troops had battled fighters long into the night Thursday after mounting an incursion into Lebanon, leaving four soldiers and two Hezbollah fighters dead.
