Israeli air strikes destroyed Nasrallah’s apartment building and a main Hizbollah office in southern Beirut but an Israeli army spokeswoman would not say if the intention had been to kill the group’s charismatic leader.

The bitterness of the confrontation has raised fears that it could spread.

Syria’s ruling Baath Party said it would support Hizbollah and Lebanon against Israel’s attacks. The pledge came despite the sometimes hostile ties that have prevailed between the neighbours since Damascus ended its 29-year military presence in Lebanon last year under local and international pressure.

"The Syrian people are ready to extend full support to the Lebanese people and their heroic resistance to remain steadfast and confront the barbaric Israeli aggression and its crimes," the ruling party said in a statement.

CIVILIAN TARGETS HIT

Israel’s aerial assault has drawn mounting international criticism but the White House said U.S. President George W. Bush would not press Israel to halt its military operation.

Asked whether Bush had agreed to a request from Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora that he rein in the Israelis, White House spokesman Tony Snow said: "No. The president is not going to make military decisions for Israel."

The Lebanon violence is the fiercest since 1996 when Israel launched a 17-day blitz on Hizbollah strongholds in the south, four years before its troops pulled out of south Lebanon, ending a 22-year occupation.

Israeli aircraft rocketed runways at Beirut’s already closed international airport and bombed a flyover just to the south.

Israeli warplanes blasted the main Beirut-Damascus highway overnight on Thursday, tightening its blockade and bombing targets in Beirut’s teeming Shi’ite Muslim suburbs.

Hizbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel have now killed four Israelis and wounded more than 150, causing panic.

Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s office said such salvos "cannot and will not be allowed to continue".

Snow told reporters that Bush had spoken by telephone to Lebanon’s prime minister among other Middle East leaders.

He said Bush believed the Israelis had the right to protect themselves, but should avoid civilian casualties and damage.

BEIRUT GOVERNMENT POWERLESS

Israel holds Lebanon responsible for the actions of Hizbollah, a political-military faction which has members in parliament and in Siniora’s mainly anti-Syrian cabinet.

The fragile Beirut government, too divided to disarm Hizbollah or extend its own control to the border, urged the U.N. Security Council to tell Israel to halt its onslaught.

It asked the Council to impose a ceasefire, but Israel said it was trying to free its neighbour from terrorist occupation and insisted the Beirut government secretly backed its actions.

Strong criticism of Israel came from France and the Vatican, as well as Egypt, Jordan and other countries.

In Gaza on Friday, Israel bombed offices of Hamas lawmakers, destroyed a bridge and fired a tank shell that killed a Palestinian.

Palestinian gunmen blew a huge hole in the border wall between Gaza and Egypt, allowing hundreds of Gazans who had been stranded on the closed border for two weeks to enter the Strip.

Since the Gaza offensive was launched on June 28, Israel has killed more than 80 Palestinians, a majority of them militants.

(Additional reporting by Nadim Ladki and Jerusalem bureau)

Israeli vessel imposing sea blockade on Lebanon hit. Hizbullah chief Hassan Nasrallah first to report of attack: ‘Look at the warship that has attacked Beirut, while it burns and sinks before your very eyes’
Roee Nahmias and AP VIDEO – Shortly after 8:30 p.m. on Friday sources reported that an Israeli Navy warship suffered a hit to its stern, close to the ship’s helipad, in an attack by Hizbullah forces. A fire that erupted as a result of the hit was quickly extinguished.

 A closer examination found that the strike cause extended damage to the vessel, and foreign news services reported that four crewmembers were missing. The ship was imposing the sea blockade on Lebanon some 16 kilometers (10 miles) off the Beirut shore when it was attacked.

Just Thursday, hours after the navy began enforcing the sea blockade on Lebanon, head of naval operations Brig.-Gen. Noam Feig told Ynet that the navy was acting under the assumption that it was under threat.

He noted that the officers on the navy ships were instructed in the proper code of conduct in order to not become a target for Hezbollah. Until Thursday, no attempt to hit navy war ships was recorded, but according to a senior commander, the navy was not ruling out such scenarios, including hits by explosives laden boats. Hizbullah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah was the first to report of the attack on the Israeli warship

 Speaking defiantly in an audiotape aired on Hizbullah’s Al-Manar television, Nasrallah addressed himself to Israelis, saying: "You wanted an open war and we are ready for an open war."

"Soon you will find how stupid your new government is and how it is incapable of reading the situation. It has no experience. You said in your opinion polls that you believe me more than anyone else. Believe me now – you attacked every house in Lebanon and you will pay for that," he said.

"Look at the warship that has attacked Beirut, while it burns and sinks before your very eyes," Nasrallah said. It was not clear whether he meant that the warship had already been attacked.

Officials would not give the vessel’s exact location.Nasrallah spoke after Israeli missiles struck Hizbullah headquarters and his house in southern Beirut. His address, however, appeared to be pre-recorded, and Nasrallah did not refer to the missile attack on his offices and residence.

Nasrallah’s announcement was greeted with heavy celebratory fire that rang out across the Lebanese capital.The Hezbollah leader repeated a threat to hit the Israeli coastal city of Haifa and other towns farther south. "We will reach Haifa, and believe me, even beyond Haifa.""Our homes will not be the only ones to be destroyed, our children will not be the only ones to die," Nasrallah added