Kfar Giladi (Israel): A defiant Hezbollah pounded northern Israel with rockets on Sunday after rejecting a US-French truce proposal, killing at least 15 people.
Israel also struck hard, killing at least 14 in Lebanon as both sides tried to take advantage of the days before a UN resolution is put to a vote.
At daybreak Monday, Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut's southern suburbs with eight airstrikes, stepping up bombardment of the Hezbollah stronghold. It was not immediately clear what was targeted.
A Hezbollah statement said four Israeli troops, including an officer, were killed in heavy ground fighting when guerrillas attacked a house on the edge of Houla where the Israeli unit was hiding. There was no immediate comment from Israel on the claim.
Israeli warplanes also struck deep in Lebanon early Monday, targeting the northeastern Bekaa Valley, a symbol of Hezbollah power.
At least four explosions were heard around the city of Baalbek, witnesses said. There was no immediate word on casualties. Hezbollah has many bases in the Baalbek region, 63 miles north of Israel's border.
In the latest round of attacks, five air raids also hit the southern market town of Nabatiyeh. Two unleashed seven missiles on an empty, seven-story office building behind local government headquarters. One strike destroyed a two-story building housing one of the offices of Shiite Muslim Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah and another struck a house.
In the deadliest attack on Israelis in this war, a rocket landed Sunday among reservists near the entrance to the communal farm of Kfar Giladi on the Lebanese border.
It killed 12 soldiers heading for battle in Lebanon and wounded five, hospital officials said.
Hezbollah rockets also hit Haifa, Israel's third-largest city, killing three civilians and wounding dozens. Flames shot from damaged homes as firefighters tried to rescue panicked residents.
In Lebanon, the dead included five members of one family crushed in their home by an Israeli air strike Sunday. Warplanes attacked near Beirut and in the south, where some villages were bombed continually for a half-hour, security officials said.
At daybreak on Monday, Israeli warplanes pounded Beirut's southern suburbs with eight airstrikes, stepping up bombardment of the Hezbollah stronghold. It was not immediately clear what was targeted.
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A Hezbollah statement said four Israeli troops, including an officer, were killed in heavy ground fighting when guerrillas attacked a house on the edge of Houla where the Israeli unit was hiding. The Israeli military said four soldiers were slightly wounded.
Israeli warplanes also struck deep in Lebanon early Monday, targeting the northeastern Bekaa Valley, a symbol of Hezbollah power. At least four explosions were heard around the city of Baalbek, witnesses said.
There was no immediate word on casualties. Hezbollah has many bases in the Baalbek region, 63 miles north of Israel's border.
In addition, five air raids hit the southern market town of Nabatiyeh. Two unleashed seven missiles on an empty, seven-story office building behind local government headquarters.
One strike destroyed a two-story building housing one of the offices of Shiite Muslim Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah and another struck a house.
The Israeli Haaretz daily, quoting an unnamed general, said Monday Israel might hit Lebanese infrastructure and symbols of government in response to the Haifa barrage.
The fighting has intensified since the US and France proposed a cease-fire resolution on Saturday, which could soon be put to a vote in the UN Security Council.
Both sides seem intent on inflicting maximum damage on each other before the vote.
Hezbollah and its chief allies, Iran and Syria, rejected the draft resolution because it does not call for an immediate Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and does not address other Lebanese demands.
The Lebanese government on Sunday asked the UN to revise the draft, demanding that Israel pull its forces out immediately with the end of hostilities.
Arab leaders were also considering holding an emergency summit on Lebanon in Saudi Arabia later this week, two Lebanese media outlets reported.
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