Ibn Abi Ahmed
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15 die in bloody new offensive
Fifteen Israeli soldiers died in a single day of fighting today, the army's highest single-day losses in the month-old war with Hezbollah militants.
The deaths came as Israel expanded its ground offensive in southern lebanon, which Hezbollah's leader has vowed to turn into a graveyard for IDF troops.
Israel TV said some of the 15 dead and 38 wounded were reservists, and the others were from the standing army.
Israeli ground troops pushed further into southern Lebanon today, but the Israeli army said the new push was not planned to exceed the current area of operations.
"This new operation falls within the geographical framework already established," said an army spokesman, Captain Jacob Dallal.
He said tanks and troops had crossed into Lebanon in order to quell Hezbollah rocket fire from al-Khiam, a town that has already seen fighting.
Witnesses in Lebanon said Israeli ground troops had reached the village of Qlaya, five kilometres from the border.
Israeli troops have carried out frequent incursions into southern Lebanon in the past four weeks.
World powers are divided on a UN resolution to try to end the four-week war which has claimed 1005 lives in Lebanon and killed 101 Israelis.
"You won't be able to stay in our land, and if you come in, we'll force you out, we will turn our precious southern land into a graveyard for the invading Zionists," Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised speech.
"We want an end to all the aggression but if there must be a showdown, then we welcome a showdown in the field."
He warned Arab residents of Haifa to leave to avoid being hurt by Hezbollah rocket attacks on the Israeli city.
Israeli television and Lebanese witnesses said armoured columns were moving into southern Lebanon under cover of intensive artillery fire. The Israeli army said the push was to quell Hezbollah rocket fire from the town of al-Khiam and would not go beyond the current area of military operations.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's security cabinet authorised a plan to send troops further, possibly to the Litani river, up to 20 kilometres from the border. A senior political source said the expanded offensive could last 30 days.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Israel had a right to defend itself from Hezbollah but that Washington was very concerned about the humanitarian situation and Israel "must take the utmost care" to avoid civilian casualties.
The Israeli move could complicate UN diplomacy to halt the fighting, though Western diplomats said Israeli officials had assured them the army was prepared to halt the wider campaign within days if an agreement was reached at the United Nations.
There has been mounting domestic pressure in Israel to strike harder against Hezbollah, which has proved unexpectedly resilient against the Middle East's most sophisticated army.
A Tel Aviv University poll showed 93 percent of Israelis believed the campaign in Lebanon was justified, and 91 percent backed the air strikes even if they destroyed Lebanese infrastructure and inflicted suffering on civilians.
REUTERS
"Allah is our ally and you have no ally. Our dead go to Paradise and yours go to Hell, and how bad is their fate."
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