Israeli bombs kill 11 in Lebanon

BEIRUT - Israeli air raids killed 11 people in north Lebanon yesterday as the United States and France strove to clinch a draft UN resolution to end the month-old war between Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas.

The bombing of a bridge near the border with Syria wounded 18 people, hospital staff said.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert faced a backlash over the prospect of a UN-backed ceasefire, with army officers saying they were held back and right-wing rivals demanding elections.

"Olmert must go," read one headline in Israel's left-leaning Haaretz newspaper. The prime minister was elected in March.

Some Israeli military commanders said an expanded ground offensive in Lebanon, authorised by Olmert and his security cabinet on Wednesday, should not have been put on hold.

An Israeli strike on a car near the eastern city of Baalbek killed one civilian and wounded two, medical sources said.

Beirut awoke to a dozen raids on its already battered Shi'ite Muslim suburbs. Many people had fled the once-crowded areas on Thursday after Israel dropped warning leaflets.

Hizbollah fired several rockets into Israel, wounding at least two people in the northern city of Haifa, medics said.

In south Lebanon, the Shi'ite guerrillas said they had repelled an Israeli force advancing towards the village of Beit Yahoun, 8 km from the border with Israel.

The war has caused shortages of fuel and power throughout Lebanon and badly disrupted relief efforts in the south, where aid officials say hospitals are running short of vital supplies.

The United States and France were close to agreement on a draft UN resolution, but objections from Lebanon or Israel could again delay a Security Council vote.

US Assistant Secretary of State David Welch, who has been shuttling between Beirut and Jerusalem, began fresh talks with Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora.

The US and French envoys to the United Nations had worked on the text late into the evening after Beirut rejected deployment of extra UN troops under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter, which authorises the use of force.

Compromise draft

The war, which began after Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12, has killed at least 1,023 people in Lebanon. At least 123 Israelis have been killed.

The Israeli army confirmed yesterday that two soldiers had been killed in Lebanon the previous day. An Israeli general had said about 50 Hizbollah guerrillas were killed on Thursday.

The US-French draft resolution calls for a "cessation of hostilities". Lebanon wants a quick Israeli pullout, but Israel says a strong multinational force must be deployed first.

The latest compromise calls for a phased Israeli withdrawal as the Lebanese army moves into the south. At the same time, the UN Interim Force in Lebanon, known as UNIFIL, would be reinforced by up to 15,000 French and other troops.

As part of the deal, Hizbollah would pull out from south of the Litani river, 20 km from the Israeli border.

The resolution is expected to ban all arms supplies to Lebanon except those destined for the army and UN forces.

A second resolution would follow within a month, setting out permanent ceasefire terms, including the release of the two soldiers for whom Israel went to war.

Israeli casualties and slow military progress against Hizbollah have eroded Olmert's standing at home, according to polls taken before details of the UN resolution emerged.

A Haaretz poll showed only 48 per cent of Israelis were satisfied with his performance, compared with more than 75 per cent early in the fighting.

One in the mass circulation Yedioth Ahronoth showed 66 per cent were satisfied with Olmert, down from 73 per cent.

Ben Caspit, a columnist for Israel's Maariv newspaper, said it would be hard for Olmert to remain.

"The public in Israel will not keep silent about this month, in which thousands of missiles were fired into Israel, which killed 123 civilians and soldiers, without reaching a victory or exacting an appropriate price," he wrote.

In Marjayoun, a Christian town occupied by Israeli forces on Thursday, UNIFIL troops were evacuating about 350 Lebanese soldiers and policemen from the local barracks under an agreement with the Israelis, officials said.

Many people in Marjayoun and nearby Qlaiah wanted to join the evacuees heading for the southern city of Sidon.

"We have no running water, no electricity, and we are running out of food. We have one bag of bread left," resident Rana Daher said.

- REUTERS