Hezbollah rockets hit Haifa, killing 8
(AP)
Updated: 2006-07-16 20:00 Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad again condemned Israel's Lebanon
offensive Saturday, telling Tehran's state television, "The Zionist regime
behaves like Hitler."
In Indonesia, about 5,000 Muslims from a large Islamic political party
protested Sunday in Jakarta against Israeli attacks on Lebanon and Gaza.
Despite global concerns, there were few signs of diplomatic efforts to halt
the fighting.
President Bush, on a trip to Russia, said it was up to Hezbollah "to lay down
its arms and to stop attacking." But Russian President Vladimir Putin urged a
balanced approach by Israel and said it appeared the nation was pursuing wider
goals than the return of abducted soldiers.
Arab foreign ministers, meeting in Cairo, adopted a resolution calling for
U.N. Security Council intervention. But moderates led by Saudi Arabia, bickering
with Syria and other backers of Hezbollah, denounced the Lebanese guerrilla
group's actions in provoking the latest conflict.
In one sign the West expects a drawn-out battle, the U.S. Embassy said it was
looking into ways to get Americans in Lebanon to Cyprus. France said it had
already decided to send a ferry from Cyprus to evacuate thousands of its
nationals. The British were sending two warships, including the carrier
Illustrious, toward Lebanon, in apparent preparation for evacuations.
In all, 33 people were killed in Lebanon on Saturday, police said. That
raised the Lebanese death toll in the four-day Israeli offensive to 106, mostly
civilians. On the Israeli side, at least 15 have been killed, four civilians and
11 soldiers.
Israeli warplanes demolished the last bridge on the main Beirut-Damascus
highway -- over the Litani River, six miles from the Syrian border -- trying to
complete their seal on Lebanon.
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