Israeli army moves deeper into Lebanon

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Backed by tanks, Israeli troops battled their way to a key Hezbollah stronghold in south Lebanon Monday, seizing a hilltop in heavy fighting and capturing two guerrillas. The U.S. completed its evacuation of 12,000 Americans and said it would also bring in humanitarian aid.

On the 13th day of Israel's offensive, its forces moved one step deeper into Lebanon as U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made her first diplomatic foray since the conflict began — and immediately met resistance.

The tangled knots in the negotiations meant fighting was likely to drag on just as the pace of Hezbollah rockets raining down on Israel showed no signs of letting up despite the bombardment of its positions. Air power alone is proving insufficient to rout the guerrillas, who are tough opponents on the ground as well. Mideast observers say Hezbollah only has to remain standing — not beat Israel — to emerge victorious in Arab eyes.

Early today, an Israeli jet fired a missile into a house in south Lebanon, killing seven people, hospital and security officials said. It was not immediately clear why Israel targeted the house, which belonged to a man named Mohammed Ghandour. He, his wife and his son were among the seven killed, security officials said. Two children were also among those killed, they said.

Rice paid a surprise visit to Beirut on the way to Israel, trying to push a blanket plan that would call for a cease-fire simultaneous with the deployment of international and Lebanese troops into southern Lebanon to prevent Hezbollah attacks on Israel.

Lebanese Parliament speaker Nabih Berri, a prominent Shiite who has been negotiating on behalf of Hezbollah, rejected the idea and said a cease-fire should be immediate, leaving the other issues for later.

Western-backed Prime Minister Fuad Saniora took a similar stance and complained bitterly to Rice about the destruction wreaked by U.S. ally Israel.

Israel "is taking Lebanon backward 50 years and the result will be Lebanon's destruction," he told Rice, the prime minister's office said.

A day after criticizing Israel for "disproportionate" strikes against civilians, U.N. humanitarian chief Jan Egeland accused Hezbollah of putting civilians in harm's way.

"Consistently, from the Hezbollah heartland, my message was that Hezbollah must stop [its] cowardly blending ... among women and children," Egeland said. "I heard they were proud because they lost very few fighters and that it was the civilians bearing the brunt of this. I don't think anyone should be proud of having many more children and women dead than armed men."

Israel appeared to be easing bombardment in populated areas and roads in Lebanon. The attacks have already killed hundreds, displaced as many as 750,000 and dismembered the transportation network. Instead, Israel appeared to be focusing its firepower on Hezbollah at the front. Beirut saw no strikes all day in apparent deference to Rice's visit.

Lebanese security officials reported three civilian deaths, without specifying where they occurred. Thirty strikes in and around towns and on roads were reported by security officials and Lebanese media — down from 37 the day before.

The numbers do not include strikes on Hezbollah positions that are outside of populated areas. Israel reported 270 strikes on Sunday, suggesting that a large number were in isolated regions.

Still, Hezbollah was able to launch 80 rockets into northern Israel, wounding 13 people, a rate only slightly lower than in past days.

Israel's death toll stands at 40, with 17 people killed by Hezbollah rockets and 23 soldiers killed in the fighting. Sixty-eight soldiers have been wounded, and 255 civilians injured by rocket fire, officials said.

On the Lebanese side, security officials said 384 people had been killed, including 20 soldiers and 11 Hezbollah guerrillas. Israeli military officials say several thousand troops are moving in and out of southern Lebanon.

At the front, Israeli ground forces waged a fierce battle Monday with guerrillas dug in at the closest large town to the border, Bint Jbail, known as "the capital of the resistance" for its vehement support of Hezbollah during Israel's 1982-2000 occupation of the south.

Four Israeli soldiers were killed — two in fighting and two in a helicopter crash — and 20 were wounded, military officials said.

Four U.N. peacekeepers were wounded, one of them seriously, when they were caught in the crossfire between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas in south Lebanon, the U.N. said.

Israel's army said it captured two Hezbollah guerrillas, the first caught during the fighting. "When the enemy surrenders, we take them prisoner. The two prisoners are located in Israel and will be held here with the aim of interrogating them," said Brig. Gen. Alon Friedman.

President Bush ordered U.S. Navy ships that have ferried nearly 12,000 Americans out of the country the past week to start today taking humanitarian aid to Lebanon.

Israel has loosened its blockade of Lebanese ports to let aid ships into Beirut, but has not defined any safe land routes for convoys to the south.

At a hospital in Tyre, where Israeli rockets hit nearby, dirty bandages hid the worst of 8-year-old Zainab Jawad's swollen, bloodied nose. Her arm was strapped to her chest and fractured in two places.

Stretched out on a bed at Najem Hospital, Zainab squeezed shut her brown eyes as memories of the attack flooded back, some of her words muffled as she fought sobs.

A day earlier, Israeli bombs destroyed her family's home in the southern village of Ayta Chaeb. Then rockets slammed into the car as they fled.

"I don't want to remember, but I can't help it. What I remember most is the sound, the sound of the planes and I was scared because I thought there were so many," she said. "I fell asleep last night, but all I could hear in my sleep were planes."