Israel rejected mounting international pressure yesterday to end its 20-day-old war against Hezbollah guerrillas, and the United Nations indefinitely postponed a meeting on a new peacekeeping force for Lebanon.

A UN official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the meeting scheduled for yesterday afternoon had been delayed "until there is more political clarity" on the path ahead in the Middle East conflict.

Civilians fled battered villages in southern Lebanon after Israel agreed to partially halt air strikes for 48 hours, and aid convoys headed into the area to deliver supplies.

Rescue workers found 28 bodies buried for days in destroyed buildings in three south Lebanon villages, the Red Cross said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said a ceasefire could be forged this week. But Israel said the war was not over despite an international outcry following the deaths of at least 54 civilians, most of them children, in an Israeli air strike on the Lebanese village of Qana on Sunday.

"If an immediate ceasefire is declared, the extremists will rear their heads anew," Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz told a heated parliamentary debate.

Despite its 48-hour truce, which started early yesterday, Israel said it may still launch aerial strikes.

Source: China Daily/agencies