Israel prepares push forward to river; Hezbollah leader offers to stop rockets

The U.N. said fighting in Lebanon distracts from turmoil in Gaza.
JERUSALEM (AP) -- A massive wave of guerrilla rockets pounded northern Israel in a matter of minutes Thursday, killing eight people hours before Hezbollah's leader offered to stop the attacks if Israel ends its airstrikes. With four soldiers killed in Lebanon, it was the deadliest day for Israel in its two-front war.
Israel unleashed airstrikes on the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh early today, saying its targets were Hezbollah facilities and an office of Hamas, the militant group which runs the Palestinian government. Israeli artillery shells earlier soared into the hills of southern Lebanon, sometimes as many as 15 per minute.
In the second front of its offensive against Islamic militants, Israel sent dozens of tanks into the Gaza Strip as aircraft fired at clusters of militants. The heavy clashes killed eight Palestinians, including an 8-year-old boy.
Despite Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah's offer and continuing diplomatic efforts to broker a cease-fire, the Israeli army prepared to push up to Lebanon's Litani River as part of its campaign to force the Shiite guerrillas away from the border and make room for a planned international force to patrol the area.
In the 23rd day of Israel's punishing onslaught both on the ground and from the air, Hezbollah has shown surprising strength and has found its support in Lebanon -- and among the larger Arab world -- vastly bolstered. With calls for a cease-fire growing more intense, the prospect that Hezbollah would emerge damaged but far from destroyed by the fighting appeared likely.
Threat to moderates
Jordan's King Abdullah II warned that the fighting was causing a backlash against moderate Arab leaders and was strengthening the very radicals it was intended to destroy. "The Arab people see Hezbollah as a hero because it's fighting Israel's aggression," he said.
The fighting in Gaza, which began June 25 after Hamas-linked militants captured an Israeli soldier in a cross-border raid, has killed a total of 175 Palestinians, the U.N. reported Thursday, adding that it was concerned that "with international attention focusing on Lebanon, the tragedy in Gaza is being forgotten."
The offensive in Lebanon began after another cross-border raid by militants, in this case Hezbollah guerrillas, captured two Israeli soldiers. More than three weeks into the fighting, six Israeli brigades -- or roughly 10,000 troops -- were locked in battle with hundreds of Hezbollah guerrillas in south Lebanon.
Israel said three of its soldiers were killed when an anti-tank rocket hit their tank, seriously damaging the vehicle, and a fourth during fighting in the southern Lebanese town of Taibeh.
Deaths so far
Since the fighting started, 68 Israelis have been killed -- 41 soldiers and 27 civilians. More than 300,000 Israelis have fled their homes in the north, Israeli officials said.
An Associated Press count shows at least 525 Lebanese have been killed, including 450 civilians confirmed dead by the Health Ministry, 25 Lebanese soldiers and at least 50 Hezbollah guerrillas. Five of the civilians were reported dead Thursday in airstrikes. Hezbollah also reported four deaths but did not say when the fighters were killed.
Despite Israel's efforts to crush Hezbollah, the guerrillas launched at least 200 rockets into northern Israel on Thursday.
At least 100 of them rained down within a half-hour period Thursday afternoon, setting cars on fire, sending Israelis fleeing into shelters and killing eight people. The barrage, which came a day after the guerrillas fired more than 230 rockets into Israel, underscored Hezbollah's continued ability to carry out unrelenting strikes.
In Maalot, three Israeli Arabs from the village of Tarshiha were riding in a car when rockets started falling. They ran out of the vehicle in search of shelter and were killed by a rocket, police said.
"Hezbollah fires missiles and they don't think about anyone," Naim Naim, who was friends with one of those killed, said as he stood near a large hole stained with blood that scarred the ground.
In Acre, people came out of their shelters after an initial barrage to see where the rockets fell, when a new batch of Katyusha rockets suddenly struck the town, killing three people as they stood in their garden. A fourth person was killed when a car was blown off the road onto the palm-tree lined sidewalk.
In response, Defense Minister Amir Peretz told top army officers to begin preparing for the next stage of the offensive in south Lebanon, a push to the Litani River, about 20 miles from the border, senior military officials said. Such a push would require further approval by Israel's Security Cabinet and could lead to far more casualties.
The Israeli army said Thursday it had taken up positions in or near 11 towns and villages across south Lebanon as part of an effort to carve out a smaller 5-mile-deep Hezbollah-free zone.
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