Rocket attacks will be fiercer, reach farther, Hezbollah says

BEIRUT, Lebanon (AP) -- Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, looking exhausted, defiantly vowed today that his fighters would begin firing rockets deeper into Israel, beyond the northern port of Haifa.
Nasrallah appeared to be counting on growing international anger at the two-week-old Israeli offensive and urged his people to be patient. Hundreds of Lebanese have died in Israeli attacks.
"I declare that we will enter the 'beyond Haifa' stage," the bearded and black-turbaned Shiite cleric said in a speech on Hezbollah's al-Manar television in the early hours today. "In the new stage, our attacks will not remain limited to Haifa."
In the last two weeks, Hezbollah has rained hundreds of rockets on northern Israel, reaching targets farther south than in any previous attacks. The group has repeatedly hit the city of Haifa, the third largest in Israel.
Nasrallah's speech appeared timed to try to distract attention from a meeting in Rome later today to discuss proposals to end the fighting that has claimed more than 400 lives. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other key Mideast players are attending.
Nasrallah appeared to mock Rice, who just concluded the first American diplomatic foray in the region since the fighting began July 12. She repeatedly said there was no place in "a new Middle East" for Hezbollah or other Islamist groups bent on Israel's destruction.
Rice also backed Israel's refusal to negotiate a quick cease-fire, claiming a lasting settlement could not be reached until Hezbollah was disarmed and unable to launch rocket attacks at Israel.
"Our steadfastness will change the regional and international reality around us. The enemy won't have a lot of time, no matter what cover the American administration is providing it," Nasrallah said in a fiery address also carried by Lebanese television stations and Arab satellite channels.
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