Defiant Lebanese brace for Israeli strike

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DAY2, BBC

US PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH My attitude is this. There are a group of terrorists who want to stop the advance of peace. And those of us who are peace-loving must work together to help the agents of peace – Israel, President Abbas, and others – to achieve their objective. Israel has the right to defend herself. [But] whatever Israel does should not weaken the government in Lebanon. We have been working very hard through the UN and partners to strengthen democracy in Lebanon. Syria must be held to account. President Assad needs to show some leadership towards peace.

ANGELA MERKEL, GERMAN CHANCELLORWe call on the powers in the region to seek to bring about a de-escalation of the situation. We cannot confuse cause and effect. The starting point is the capture of the Israeli soldiers. It is important that the government in Lebanon, which is on a peaceful path, should be strengthened, but it must be made clear that the capture [of the soldiers] cannot be tolerated. The attacks did not start from the Israeli side, but from Hezbollah’s side.

RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT STATEMENTOne cannot justify the continued destruction by Israel of the civilian infrastructure in Lebanon and in Palestinian territory, involving the disproportionate use of force in which the civilian population suffers. We firmly reaffirm support for Lebanon’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. All forms of terrorism are completely unacceptable. All sides involved in the current events should take rapid measures to stop the region sliding into open conflict.

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AMIR PERETZ, ISRAELI DEFENCE MINISTER

We will not allow Hezbollah to return to the positions it occupied along the border before the soldiers were abducted. Only the Lebanese army should operate in this area and deploy forces. If the Lebanese government does not deploy its armed forces as a sovereign government should, we will not allow Hezbollah forces to move again onto the other side of the border.

We will no longer put up with a terrorist organisation threatening residents in northern Israel with the support of a sovereign government.

PHILIPPE DOUSTE-BLAZY, FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER

We obviously condemn this disproportionate act of war, which moreover has two consequences. The first is that it forces anyone who wants to enter Lebanon from now on to go either by sea or via Syria. The second consequence is that it risks plunging Lebanon back into the worst years of the war.

Today there is a risk of a very dangerous spiral of violence which could destabilise the entire region.

Lebanese soldiers and civilians check the damage to an ambulance that was hit during an Israeli airstrike in Zahrani, in southern Lebanon. Israel bombarded Lebanon to retrieve two soldiers snatched by Hezbollah guerrillas in bloody day of cross-border violence that left 10 people dead, opening up a dangerous new front in the Middle East conflict.(AFP/Ramzi Haidar)

An Israeli artillery unit fires across the border into southern Lebanon from a position on the frontier in Zaura, northern Israel , Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives. Seven Israeli soldiers and two Lebanese were killed in the violence. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Israeli artillery soldiers gather at a position across the border from southern Lebanon on the frontier in Zaura, northern Israel , Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives. Seven Israeli soldiers and two Lebanese were killed in the violence. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Lebanese civilians run following Israeli airstrikes in Zahrani, in southern Lebanon. Israel bombarded Lebanon from the land, sea and air to retrieve two soldiers snatched by Hezbollah today, the first such major offensive against its neighbour since a 2000 pullout.(AFP)

Israeli soldiers stand next to a mobile artillery unit firing 155 mm shells towards a Hezbollah target in southern Lebanon in the border between northern Israel and southern Lebanon. The White House denounced the abduction of two Israeli soldiers by Lebanese militia Hezbollah and said it held Syria and Iran responsible for the attack.(AFP/Menahem Kahana)

Israeli soldiers prepare for a mission in Lebanon near the Israeli-Lebanese border July 12, 2006. REUTERS/Yonathan Weitzman (ISRAEL)

Lebanese citizens run shortly after Israeli warplanes bombed Qasmiya Bridge near Tyre in south Lebanon July 12, 2006. (Adnan Hajj/Reuters)

Lebanese youths wave Hezbollah flags as they celebrate on their scooters, in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006, after the Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers near the border with Israel . Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives. Seven Israeli soldiers, two Lebanese civilians and a guerrilla were killed in the violence. (AP Photo/ Mahmoud Tawil)

Smoke rises from an Israeli air raid that targeted a bridge, in the Zahrani region, on the Mediterranean coast, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives. Seven Israeli soldiers, two Lebanese civilians and a guerrilla were killed in the violence. (AP Photo/ Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese men inspect a bridge that was destroyed when Israeli jets targeted it in the Zahrani region, on the Mediterranean coast, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives. Seven Israeli soldiers, two Lebanese civilians and a guerrilla were killed in the violence. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

Lebanese citizens inspect the damage to their house after an Israeli airstrike hit a neighboring suspected Hezbollah resistance position, unseen, in the village of Debbine, next to the southern town of Marjayoun, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives. Seven Israeli soldiers, two Lebanese civilians and a guerrilla were killed in the violence. (AP Photo/Lotfallah Daher)

A Lebanese citizen receives medical treatment at a hospital in the southern town of Marjayoun, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006, after he was injured during an Israeli raid. Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives. Seven Israeli soldiers, two Lebanese civilians and a guerrilla were killed in the violence. (AP Photo/Lotfallah Daher)

A Lebanese man tries to save some equipment from an ambulance that was damaged while driving past a bridge that was destroyed when Israeli jets targeted it in the Zahrani region, on the Mediterranean coast, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives. Seven Israeli soldiers, two Lebanese civilians and a guerrilla were killed in the violence. (AP Photo/ Mohammed Zaatari)

Smoke rises from an Israeli air raid as Lebanese people speed on the highway in the Zahrani region, on the Mediterranean coast, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives. Seven Israeli soldiers, two Lebanese civilians and a guerrilla were killed in the violence. (AP Photo/ Mohammed Zaatari)

A Lebanese medic treats Ali Hallal, the cameraman of the Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV, in a hospital in the southern town of Tyre, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006, after he was injured when an Israeli air raid targeted the Qassmieh bridge, where he was filming. Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives. Seven Israeli soldiers, two Lebanese civilians and a guerrilla were killed in the violence. (AP Photo/ Mohammed Zaatari)

AP – 14 minutes ago

Lebanese security forces inspect a ruined bridge in the Green Valley area near Nabatieh in south Lebanon shortly after being bombed by an Israeli airstrike, July 12, 2006. REUTERS/Adnan Hajj (LEBANON)

Reuters – 32 minutes ago

Israeli soldiers stand by a tank near the Israeli-Lebanese border July 12, 2006. (Ancho Gosh/Reuters)

Reuters – 30 minutes ago

The TV crew of the Lebanese TV station NEW TV films a destroyed car in Qasmiya Bridge near Tyre in south Lebanon after it was bombed by an Israeli airstrike, July 12, 2006. REUTERS/Adnan Hajj (LEBANON)

Reuters – 29 minutes ago

A Lebanese man points out to a ruined window in Qaqaiet Al Jiser near Nabatieh in south Lebanon after being bombed during an Israeli airstrike , July 12, 2006. REUTERS/Adnan Hajj (LEBANON)

A Lebanese man points to the ruined glass of his car in Qaqaiet Al Jiser near Nabatieh in south Lebanon after being bombed during an Israeli airstrike, July 12, 2006. REUTERS/Adnan Hajj (LEBANON)

Reuters – 40 minutes ago

Bassam Al Aridi the reporter of Lebanese TV station NEW TV receives medical care in Al Najda hospital in Nabatieh in south Lebanon July 12, 2006. The TV crew was hit during an Israeli airstrike. REUTERS/Adnan Hajj (LEBANON)

Reuters – 34 minutes ago

A Lebanese woman lifts a Hezbollah flag while praying during celebrations, in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006, after the Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers near the border with Israel . Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives. Seven Israeli soldiers and two Lebanese were killed in the violence. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Tawil)

AP – 34 minutes ago

Lebanese youths wave Hezbollah flags as they celebrate on their scooters, in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006, after the Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers near the border with Israel . Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives. Seven Israeli soldiers and two Lebanese were killed in the violence. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Tawil)

AP – 46 minutes ago

A Lebanese man inspects a ruined bridge in Qaqaiet Al Jiser near Nabatieh in south Lebanon after being bombed by an Israeli airstrike July 12, 2006. REUTERS/Adnan Hajj (LEBANON)

Reuters – 52 minutes ago

A Lebanese citizen gestures near the ruined Qasmiya Bridge near Tyre in south Lebanon shortly after being bombed by Israeli warplanes July 12, 2006. (Adnan Hajj/Reuters)

Reuters – 1 hour, 12 minutes ago

Lebanese citizens run shortly after Israeli warplanes bombed Qasmiya Bridge near Tyre in south Lebanon July 12, 2006. (Adnan Hajj/Reuters)

Reuters – 1 hour, 12 minutes ago

A Lebanese man lights firecrackers during celebrations, in the suburbs of Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006, after the Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers near the border with Israel . Hezbollah fighters launched a raid into Israel and captured two Israeli soldiers Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, gunboats and ground troops in southern Lebanon to hunt for the captives. Seven Israeli soldiers and two Lebanese were killed in the violence. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Tawil)

AP – 1 hour, 9 minutes ago

Lebanese citizens stand next to smoke rising from a damaged house, suspected to be a Hezbollah guerilla position, after it was hit by Israeli airstrikes on the village of Debbine, next to the southern town of Marjayoun, Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, tanks and gunboats striking southern Lebanon as Israeli troops crossed the frontier to hunt for the captives. (AP Photo/Lotfallah Daher)

AP – 1 hour, 21 minutes ago

Israeli soldiers stand by a mobile artillery piece firing across the Lebanese frontier July 12, 2006. (Haim Azoulay/Reuters)

Reuters – 1 hour, 16 minutes ago

Abed Khayat, a cameraman with the Lebanese TV station NEW TV, receives medical attention in Al Najda hospital in Nabatieh, south Lebanon July 12, 2006, following Israeli air strikes. REUTERS/Adnan Hajj (LEBANON)

Reuters – 1 hour, 25 minutes ago

A Lebanese soldier stands on alert behind an anti-aircraft gun after Israeli warplanes destroyed the Qassmieh bridge, on the main north-south highway, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, tanks and gunboats against southern Lebanon as Israeli troops crossed the frontier to hunt for the captives. (AP Photo/Mohammed Zaatari)

AP – 1 hour, 28 minutes ago

Bassam Al Aridi, a reporter with the Lebanese TV station NEW TV, receives medical attention in Al Najda hospital in Nabatieh, south Lebanon July 12, 2006, following Israeli air strikes. REUTERS/Adnan Hajj (LEBANON)

Reuters – 1 hour, 27 minutes ago

Lebanese Hizbollah supporters in Beirut celebrate after Hizbollah guerrillas captured two Isreali soldiers in attacks in south Lebanon, July 12, 2006. REUTERS/Sharif Karim

Reuters – 1 hour, 34 minutes ago

Lebanese men carry a poster of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in the southern suburbs of Beirut. Nasrallah has said that two Israeli soldiers captured by his fighters will only be returned through "indirect negotiations and an exchange of prisoners".(AFP/Ramzi Haidar)

AFP – 1 hour, 30 minutes ago

Bassam Aridi, a reporter with the Lebanese TV station NEW TV, receives medical attention in Al Najda hospital in Nabatieh, south Lebanon July 12, 2006, following Israeli air strikes. REUTERS/Adnan Hajj (LEBANON)

Reuters – 1 hour, 31 minutes ago

Lebanese citizens and soldiers inspect the damage at the Qassmieh bridge after it was destroyed when Israeli warplanes targeted it, on the main north-south highway, southern Lebanon, Wednesday, July 12, 2006. Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, tanks and gunboats against southern Lebanon as Israeli troops crossed the frontier to hunt for the captives. (AP Photo/ Mohammed Zaatari)

AP – 1 hour, 51 minutes ago

Lebanese men inspect a bridge damaged by Israeli waplanes near the village of Kfar Rouman in south Lebanon, Wednesday July 12, 2006. Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid Wednesday, triggering an Israeli assault with warplanes, tanks and gunboats against southern Lebanon as Israeli troops crossed the frontier to hunt for the captives.(AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

AP – 1 hour, 49 minutes ago

A Lebanese civil defence representative runs shortly after Israeli warplanes bombed Qasmiya Bridge near Tyre in south Lebanon July 12, 2006. (Adnan Hajj/Reuters)

Reuters – 1 hour, 47 minutes ago

AP – 1 hour, 47 minutes ago

Lebanese citizens walk in the middle of the rubble caused by the Israeli army’s artillery shells at al-Kaakaeih village, outside Nabatiyeh in south Lebanon. Israel bombarded Lebanon to retrieve two soldiers snatched by Hezbollah guerrillas in bloody day of cross-border violence that left 10 people dead, opening up a dangerous new front in the Middle East conflict.(AFP/Joseph Barrak)

DAY1

BINT JBEIL, Lebanon, July 12 (Reuters) – Residents of southern Lebanon celebrated Hizbollah’s capture of two Israeli soldiers on Wednesday but braced for major retaliation by the Jewish state six years after it ended its occupation there. Early fireworks and celebratory gunfire gave way in mid-afternoon to a tense calm as shops closed and parents ushered their children home, fearing that sporadic Israeli air raids and shelling would escalate into heavy bombing.

"We celebrated. We handed out sweets and we are now playing backgammon," said Ibrahim Mehdi, 45, a state employee in the southern town Kfar Seer. "We are used to the atmosphere of war." Hizbollah captured two Israeli soldiers and killed up to seven Israelis in Lebanese border violence, further inflaming Middle East tensions. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert described the Hizbollah attacks as an "act of war" by Lebanon and promised a painful response. It has already launched a major assault on the Gaza Strip to free an Israeli soldier captured last week. Israel mobilised a reserve infantry division and Hizbollah declared a military alert, but residents of southern Lebanon, much of which was occupied by Israel until 2000, were defiant.We, the Shi’ites of the south, are stronger than the Palestinians or even the Americans," said Hussein Mohammed, 55

"The resistance has given us a balance of powers and Israel will pay the price of any retaliation."

Hizbollah, referred to by followers as "the resistance", waged a campaign of attrition against Israeli troops that helped end their 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon.

Secretary of State Condolezza RIce said that the hezbullah action went against the interest of the Lebanese people, and that Syria has a "special responsibility" to resolve the crisis."All sides must act with restraint to resolve this incident peacefully and to protect innocent life and civilian infrastructure," she said ahead of meetings in Paris.Separately, Israel escalated its Gaza assault, killing 23 people.Israeli attacks in the central Gaza town of Deir Al-Balah killed 12 people, while two people were killed in separate incidents elsewhere in Gaza.

ARAB PRISONERS

The group snatched the bodies of three Israeli soldiers and a businessman in 2000 which it swapped in 2004 for hundreds of Lebanese and other Arabs detained in Israeli jails.

Residents of the south hoped it could again swap the captive soldiers for the last three Lebanese detainees in Israel.

"This operation will free our detainees in the Israeli jails. We are very proud," said Nabiha Baalbaki, a hairdresser who hangs a picture of Hizbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in her shop and had the television on the group’s Manar channel.

"Work has stopped today and people are being careful because you cannot trust Israelis … But we are scared of no one."

Under international pressure to disarm in line with a U.N. resolution, Hizbollah said in May it had thousands of rockets capable of hitting any target in northern Israel and maybe beyond should the Jewish state attack Lebanese territory again.