Israel's top security ministers have decided not to expand the ongoing ground offensive in Lebanon. But the decision does not mean the conflict is winding down.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she is "willing and ready" to return to the Middle East and try for a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah.
A key al-Qaida leader has called for revenge against Israel's offensives in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. President Bush says he is not surprised.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to decide Friday whether to pay a return trip to the Middle East to try to help broker a durable cease-fire in the Lebanon conflict. The Secretary has been consulting with ASEAN leaders in Kuala Lumpur after an initial crisis visit to the region earlier this week.
A key al-Qaida leader has called for revenge against Israel's offensives in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip. President Bush says he is not surprised.
Fierce fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah militants has entered its third week, in a conflict that has killed more than 400 Lebanese and at least 50 Israelis. Middle East analysts and Israeli military commanders are predicting the battle could last several more weeks and have an impact on the entire region.
Southern Lebanon has been pounded by more than two weeks of Israeli airstrikes and artillery, which have leveled villages and forced roughly half a million people to flee their homes.
The U.S. Defense Department announced Thursday it has ordered several thousand soldiers to stay in Iraq beyond their one-year assignment, which was about to end.
Israel stepped up air strikes and artillery fire against Hezbollah targets in Lebanon Thursday, one day after suffering heavy casualties in an ongoing battle for a strategic town in southern Lebanon. Israel's security-cabinet is meeting Thursday and is expected to approve expanding Israel's air offensive and ground attacks in Lebanon.
A small group of Americans and Australians have made a perilous journey to safety from a tiny village near the Lebanese border.
|
