Israel intensifies air raids on Hezbollah's stronghold

Israel intensified its air strikes on Hezbollah's stronghold in the southern suburbs of Beirut with a new wave of bombings early on Sunday.

The suburbs, which were repeatedly bombed on Saturday, suffere dearly on Sunday the heaviest of the Israeli raids since Israel launched its offensive Wednesday in retaliation for the capture of two Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah guerillas, witnesses said.

The new bombings began after midnight and continued intermittently until about 2:30 a.m.

Israeli warplanes buzzed the city, which was shaken by a series of loud explosions. Parts of the capital were plunged into darkness after Israeli struck power stations and the fuel depots feeding them.

On Saturday, Israel killed 35 civilians, including 15 children, in air strikes. Meanwhile, Hezbollah rockets struck deeper into Israel than ever, wounding eight people in the Sea of Galilee town of Tiberias and 15 others across northern Israel.

During Israel's four days of assaults, at least 104 people were killed. As a result, Lebanon's economy was badly hurt and tourists and foreigners began to flee.

European and Arab nations and the United States on Saturday moved to evacuate citizens from Lebanon as Israel continued its air raids.

An Italian convoy of vehicles left Beirut on Saturday as the U.S., France, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Poland, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates said they were planning to evacuate their citizens from Lebanon to Syria or Cyprus.

Lebanonese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora demanded an immediate UN-backed ceasefire, denouncing Israel for turning his country into a "disaster zone" and appealing for international aid.

The rising death toll from the Israeli air raids against Lebanon has overshadowed the agenda of the G8 summit. Leaders of the world's leading industrialized nations said Israel has been too violent.

U.S. President George W. Bush, a strong backer of Israel, called on Israel to avoid civilian casualties, but he refused to ask Israel to stop its bombardment of Lebanon.

A spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair described the situation in the Middle East as "very serious." "This is a situation we have to calm down and we have to calm down quickly," he said.

"We understand that there were provocations against Israel, but we believe the use of force by Israel was disproportionate," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said :"We condemn any terrorist act including hostage-taking but we have the impression that besides the return of its abducted soldiers, Israel is pursuing other, wider goals."

Source: Xinhua