Israel considers expanding war, UN diplomats argue

JERUSALEM - Israel will decide later today whether to send troops deeper into Lebanon to fight Hizbollah guerrillas, as diplomats at the United Nations argue over a resolution that might end the war.

Four weeks of bloodshed have killed about 1000 Lebanese and more than 100 Israelis. Israeli troops skirmished with Hizbollah near the border today while warplanes struck targets across Lebanon.

A vote on a UN resolution to end the war, triggered by Hizbollah's seizure of two soldiers in a July 12 cross-border raid, may not happen before Thursday because of wrangling.

An Arab League delegation warned Lebanon could erupt in civil war if Beirut's terms were not met. Lebanon demands an immediate ceasefire and a quick withdrawal of thousands of Israeli troops from its south.

Israel, planning to pull out only when a foreign force and the Lebanese army take over to keep Hizbollah at bay, has vowed in the absence of agreement to expand an offensive in south Lebanon to curb Hizbollah's rocket attacks on the Jewish state.

A deeper Israeli advance into Lebanon could step up pressure for a deal on terms that suit Israel and its ally Washington.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's inner security cabinet was due to discuss a military push to the Litani river, 20km inside Lebanon, and possibly beyond. Israel's top officers and defence minister favour the plan, hoping to damage Hizbollah as much as possible before any ceasefire takes hold.

So far, at least 10,000 troops have been fighting just inside the border, meeting fierce resistance from Hizbollah.

"The rockets must be eliminated and we must leave a fenced and clear area ... into which the multinational force will enter," cabinet minister Gideon Ezra told the Ynetnews website. "Hizbollah is showing signs of breaking down."

Israeli air strikes killed 14 villagers in south Lebanon on Tuesday. Early on Wednesday, air strikes killed one person at a position of the Palestinian Fatah movement in a refugee camp near the city of Sidon, hospital sources said.

Dozens of attacks hit Hizbollah strongholds in the eastern Bekaa valley, where two Lebanese army soldiers were wounded. One missile hit a four-storey building, trapping some civilians. Four strikes targeted a bridge and roads in northern Lebanon.

At least 993 people have been killed in Lebanon, mostly civilians. Officials say dozens more are buried under rubble.

Four Israeli soldiers were killed in fighting on Tuesday, bringing Israel's toll from the war to 101 dead. Small arms fire, interspersed by thudding mortars and artillery echoed in the hills along the border early on Wednesday.

Hizbollah fired dozens of rockets into Israel on Tuesday, wounding two people.

The Arab League delegation is pushing for changes to a US-French draft UN Security Council resolution designed to end the war.

"If we adopt the resolution without fully considering the reality of Lebanon, we will face a (Lebanese) civil war," said Qatar's Foreign Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabr al-Thani. "Instead of helping Lebanon, we will destroy Lebanon."

Faced with the strong Arab objections, France and the United States are revising their draft resolution.

Under discussion is when and what kind of an international force would go in to support the Lebanese army, which US officials believe is not strong enough to subdue Hizbollah.

Lebanon announced yesterday it was sending 15,000 troops to the south, which has been dominated by Hizbollah since Israel ended a 22-year occupation in 2000.

Israel's UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman said the critical test faced by the Security Council was not adopting a resolution, but making a decision that would "end the threat that Hizbollah and its sponsors pose to Israel and Lebanon".

"The issue in this crisis is not territory but terror," he said, accusing Iran and Syria of training and funding Hizbollah -- something they deny.

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, a harsh critic of Washington who often expresses sympathy for the Palestinians, said his country was likely to sever relations with Israel over the war.

- REUTERS