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The incessant Israeli raids left southern Lebanon in tatters. (Reuters)
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BEIRUT — Lebanon shook under a new wave of killer
Israeli strikes on Monday, July 17, and overnight, killing more
Lebanese civilians with no sign of a let-up in the conflict that
erupted five days ago.
In the deadliest raid, at least 19 Lebanese,
including army soldiers, were killed and 56 others wounded in a
pre-dawn Israeli strike on a military office topped by a radio
transmitter in the southern port city of Tyre, reported Agence France-Presse
(AFP).
Six civilians, three of them children, were killed
late Sunday when Israeli jets targeted the southern Lebanese border
village of Aitarun.
Beirut's international airport, already shut to
traffic, was hit again late Sunday by Israeli warplanes which fired 10
missiles on a runway and set the night sky ablaze.
The disabled airport is one of many problems facing
residents and foreign nationals seeking to flee Lebanon, with the
increasingly dangerous land route to Syria the only available exit for
many.
Governments worldwide were also scrambling Monday
to evacuate their nationals on the sixth day of the devastating blitz
of Israeli air strikes.
Monday's raids brought to at least 167 the number
killed in Lebanon over six days, Israel's fiercest offensive on its
northern neighbor since it launched a full-scale invasion in 1982.
The onslaught has left Lebanon virtually cut off
from the outside world and much of its infrastructure in tatters, with
jets targeting roads, bridges and power stations.
Lebanese Finance Minister Jihad Azur said Sunday
that massive damage inflicted by Israeli military strikes on his
country had already cost its fragile economy more than half a billion
dollars.
Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has declared Lebanon a
"disaster zone" and appealed for urgent international help.
Reluctance
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Solana, left, during his talks with Siniora.
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Lebanese Information Minister Ghazi Aridi said
Sunday that Israel showed no willingness to ease mounting tensions.
He said Lebanon had been informed by Italy that
Israel had set two conditions — the release of the two soldiers
taken prisoners and the withdrawal of the resistance movement from its
stronghold in southern Lebanon.
Vijay Nambiar, special political adviser for the UN
secretary general, called for a ceasefire following talks with Siniora.
He also called for "the release of the
captured as part of a solution to this conflict," in a reference
to Hizbullah's operation which took prisoner two Israeli soldiers.
Nambiar called for "the protection of
civilians and civilian infrastructure which must be protected."
The five-member mission, which arrived in Beirut
earlier Sunday, also includes UN Middle East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen.
In the highest-profile visit since the crisis began
last week, EU foreign policy and security chief Javier Solana arrived
in Beirut Sunday for talks with the Lebanese premier.
A draft statement, to be discussed by EU foreign
ministers meeting in Brussels Monday, will urge all parties to work to
end escalating Middle East violence but stop short of demanding an
immediate ceasefire, according to Reuters.
The text appeals to Hizbullah to halt attacks on
Israeli cities and Israel to avoid a "disproportionate"
reaction.
"A de-escalation of the current situation is
imperative ... The (EU) Council urges all parties concerned to create
the conditions for a sustainable cessation of violence," said the
statement.
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin will
also travel to Beirut on Monday to meet his counterpart Siniora as a
sign of "solidarity and support of the French people in their
trial, the French government said.
France, which has long ties with its former colony
Lebanon and some 17,000 citizens resident in the country, has
criticized the Israeli attacks as a "disproportionate"
response to the Hizbullah's operation.
