Israel thrust into southern Lebanon yesterday and pounded towns and villages, meeting fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas who reportedly killed three soldiers.

 

Three weeks after the war erupted when Hezbollah snatched two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid, a senior Israeli cabinet member said the army needed up to two more weeks to finish its offensive.

 

EU president Finland, echoing the growing international calls for a ceasefire, said Israel's plans to sweep further into Lebanon were unacceptable and would only fuel more Arab support for Hezbollah fighters.

 

EU foreign ministers were set to call for an "immediate ceasefire" at talks in Brussels, according to a draft statement.

 

Expressing "utmost concern" at Lebanese and Israeli civilian casualties, it said: "Disregard for necessary precautions to avoid loss of civilian life constitutes a severe breach of international humanitarian law."

 

The southern Lebanese village of Qana mourned the deaths of at least 54 civilians, killed in an Israeli air strike Sunday that fuelled international calls for a ceasefire.

 

"All those killed had no shrapnel or wounds on their bodies. They all died of suffocation. The debris fell on them and their color was blue," said Red Cross volunteer Bassam Mokdad. "If I had been able to arrive earlier, I could've found people alive."

 

At least 617 people have been killed in Lebanon, although the health minister puts the toll at 750 including bodies still buried under rubble. Fifty-one Israelis have also been killed.

 

Israel wants to push Hezbollah back and stop it blasting rockets over the border. However, an Israeli cabinet minister said there was no way its forces could destroy all the missiles, comments appeared aimed at lowering Israeli public expectations.

 

Israeli artillery shells rained down on the border area around the Lebanese village of Aita al-Shaab, where Hezbollah said it had destroyed a tank in battles with Israeli troops.

 

Al-Arabiya television said three Israeli soldiers died in those clashes, which would be the first casualties since Israel lost nine soldiers on July 26. Hezbollah said it had inflicted 20 casualties in house-to-house battles at Aita al-Shaab.

 

The Israeli army said 20 Hezbollah fighters were killed in the last 48 hours. Hezbollah denied any serious casualties.

 

Israel has rejected calls for a truce as world powers differ over the urgency of a ceasefire.

 

Most Arab and European governments have insisted on an immediate end to fighting but Israel's closest ally, Washington, has said any ceasefire must be part of a broader deal that ends the threat to the Jewish state from Hezbollah.

 

Military operations to expand

 

The intense fighting came the same day as Israel's security cabinet approved an expansion of its military operations in southern Lebanon. This would entail a military ground sweep 6-7 kilometers into Lebanon, a political source said.

 

"I reckon the time required for the (army) to complete the job, and by that I mean that the area in which we want the international force to deploy is cleansed of Hezbollah, will take around 10 days to two weeks," Infrastructure Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Army Radio.

 

The UN has postponed discussion on mobilizing an international force for Lebanon until at least tomorrow, to wait for more progress toward a political solution.

 

France, which has been tipped to lead the new force, said it must be bigger than the 10,000 troops suggested by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, be sufficiently well armed and have precise guidelines when it comes to opening fire.

 

(China Daily August 2, 2006)