COMBINED DISPATCHES
COMBINED DISPATCHES
BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Israeli troops pulled back from a border town Saturday after a week of heavy fighting with Hezbollah guerrillas, and warplanes killed a woman and her five children in a strike that leveled their home.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice returned to the Middle East to push a refined U.S. peace plan.
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah marked Rice's arrival with a threat to fire rockets even deeper into Israel. Appearing on Hezbollah television, Nasrallah claimed victory, saying Israel had failed to make a "single military achievement" during its 18-day offensive.
Nasrallah said he would cooperate with the Lebanese government in negotiations toward ending the crisis. But he was vague about how far he would go, and suggested that disarmament would be off the table if conditions outlined by Lebanon are not met -- including the resolution of a border dispute with Israel.
Willpower
The bearded Shiite Muslim cleric, wearing his trademark black turban, gave his latest televised address a day after Hezbollah fired its deepest strike in to Israel yet, hitting outside the town of Afula.
"No matter how long the war lasts, whatever sacrifices it takes, we are ready. We will not be broken or defeated," he said.
"Many cities in the center [of Israel] will be targeted ... if the savage aggression continues on our country, people and villages."
Despite its intense bombardment of Lebanon -- and heavy ground fighting near the border -- Israel has been unable to stop barrages of hundreds of Hezbollah rockets. Guerrillas fired at least 90 rockets into Israel Saturday, lightly injuring five people.
On Saturday, Israel made its closest strike to Hezbollah ally Syria yet. Warplanes hit the Lebanese side of a Syrian-Lebanese border crossing, forcing the closure of the main transit point for refugees fleeing and humanitarian aid entering Lebanon.
On the Lebanon-Israel border, an Israeli strike hit near a U.N. peacekeepers' station, wounding two. The world body had just relocated unarmed U.N. observers to the peacekeepers' posts for safety, after a strike Tuesday killed four.
Lebanese casualties
Throughout, Lebanese civilians have suffered the most from the fighting, which erupted after Hezbollah kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed one in a cross-border raid July 12.
A strike outside the market town of Nabatiyeh crushed a house, killing a woman and her five children, and a man in a nearby house, Lebanese security officials said. Elsewhere, six bodies were dug from the rubble of a house destroyed Friday in the town of Ain Arab, they said.
In the southern port city of Tyre, volunteers buried 31 victims of the bombardment in a mass grave. Among the line of plywood coffins was a tiny one holding the body of a 1-day-old girl.
Israel's pullback of its forces from the border town of Bint Jbail ended the bloodiest siege in what has so far been only a limited ground incursion into southern Lebanon. Israel has said it will carry out a number of such incursions rather than launch a full-fledged invasion.
The weeklong battle underscored Israel's difficulty in pushing back guerrillas who have been preparing for years for this fight, building up arsenals and digging in with tunnels and shelters in caves.
Bombardment by Israeli forces and rocket fire from guerrillas was intense Saturday morning around the Hezbollah stronghold, Lebanese security officials said.
But by Saturday afternoon, Israel had withdrawn. Maj. Gen. Udi Adam, head of Israel's northern command, said Israel never intended to occupy Bint Jbail or to get "stuck in one place." He insisted the real mission -- "to destroy infrastructure and kill terrorists" -- had been a success.
Regardless, the pullback gave Hezbollah the opportunity to claim its fighters had driven out Israel's war machine.
Nasrallah said his guerrillas had dealt Israel a "serious defeat" in the town. "This elite force was fleeing and scurrying like mice from the battleground," he said.
Even Israeli officials said the battle was tougher than expected in Bint Jbail, a mainly Shiite town with deep symbolism for Hezbollah.
Nicknamed "the capital of the resistance," the town showed vehement support for the guerrillas during the 1982-2000 Israeli occupation of the south.
An international agreement, leading to a cease-fire in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict, is possible sometime in the next few days, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Saturday in San Francisco.
But the international community must act decisively and collectively, Blair said, and both Israel and the Hezbollah militia must agree to end the violence.
"I think we can get a U.N. resolution and I think that if people can see there is a pathway to a proper resolution, then I think we can get a cease-fire," Blair said in an interview with the British Broadcasting Corp. "We have got to work at this very hard over the next few days."
Blair told the BBC, "You're not going to get a cease-fire on both sides until you put in place the conditions that allow that to happen."
The prime minister is in the United States to promote British trade interests in California, but is closely monitoring the situation in Israel and Lebanon. He arrived in San Francisco after a stop in Washington, where he met Friday with President Bush to discuss the crisis in the Middle East.
Eighteen soldiers were killed in Bint Jbail -- nine of them in Hezbollah ambushes Wednesday, the military's worst one-day loss in the campaign. Adam said dozens of guerrillas were killed in the week of fighting. But Hezbollah acknowledges the deaths of only 35 fighters in the entire 18 days of warfare.
Israeli troops still hold Maroun al-Ras, a nearby village, as well as the high ground above Bint Jbail, Adam said, adding that the air force would continue to pound Bint Jbail and ground forces could return at any time.
At least 458 Lebanese have been killed in the fighting, according to a Health Ministry count Friday based on the number of bodies in hospitals, plus Saturday's deaths. Some estimates range as high as 600 dead, with many bodies buried in rubble.
Thirty-three Israeli soldiers have died, and Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel have killed 19 civilians, the Israeli army said.
U.S. pressure
The United States is under increasing pressure to quickly end the fighting, which in the last weeks has spiraled into an all-out Israeli attempt to end Hezbollah's domination of south Lebanon.
The peace package Rice brings to the region addresses some of the demands made in the Lebanese government proposal that Hezbollah reluctantly supported.
The U.S. package calls for a U.N.-mandated multinational force that can help stabilize in the region, according to a U.S. official speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.
It also proposes: disarming Hezbollah and integrating the guerrilla force into the Lebanese army; Hezbollah's return of Israeli prisoners; a buffer zone in southern Lebanon to put Hezbollah rockets out of range of Israel; a commitment to resolve the status of a piece of land held by Israel and claimed by Lebanon; and the creation of an international reconstruction plan for Lebanon.
The latter two provisions resembled parts of Beirut's proposal. But they fall short of the demands sought by Hezbollah.
, including a prisoner swap to free Lebanese held for years in Israeli prisons and the disputed land, known as Chebaa farms, put under U.N. supervision until its status can be resolved.
Nasrallah hinted that if the Lebanese government backs down on those demands, his fighters won't support disarmament and or an international force.
"For Lebanon to win the battle, it needs political will no less than the will of the resistance fighters in the field," the Hezbollah leader said. "The government is required to act in a way that reflects the Lebanese people's steadfastness and unity."
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