Israeli forces thrust deeper into Lebanon against fierce Hezbollah resistance yesterday, hours after the UN Security Council adopted a resolution to end the month-old war.
After the unanimous council vote on Friday night, Israel launched an expanded ground offensive in the south, even though Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he backed the resolution.
Relief officials said Israel was still denying access for aid convoys to distressed civilians despite the resolution.
Israeli troops yesterday towards hilltops overlooking the strategic Litani river as the army expanded its ground offensive on the 32nd day of its war on Hezbollah.
Israeli tanks and armored vehicles rolled from the village of Qantara -- captured the day earlier -- towards Ghanduriyeh Froun, two villages which overlook the river some 10km inside the border.
The Shiite Muslim Hezbollah said it had rebuffed the Israeli advance with fierce resistance and destroyed two tanks, while the Israeli air force and artillery was bombarding the area in support of their ground troops.
The Israeli army said it had launched a widescale offensive in south Lebanon early yesterday, despite a UN resolution calling for a halt to the month-long fighting.
The army said its ground operation was expected to extend up to the Litani river, which runs up to 30km away from the Israeli border.
The Litani river has served as a strategic limit for Israel's operations in Lebanon since it first invaded its northern neighbor in 1978.
new phase
Israel has poured thousands of soldiers into an area of south Lebanon stretching from Bayadda on the coast in the west to the village of Kfar Kila in the east but yesterday's fighting appeared to mark a new phase in the offensive.
The UN resolution -- which calls for a cessation of the month-long hostilities -- also did not stop Israel from launching a relentless air bombardment of southern Lebanon, killing eight people.
Five civilians were killed when Israeli aircraft bombarded the village of Rashaf east of the port city of Tyre in south Lebanon, police said.
Three civilians were killed and seven others wounded in Israeli air raids near the southern city of Sidon, Lebanese police sources said.
Israeli fighter-bombers had earlier staged four raids on Sidon, destroying the electricity plant for south Lebanon's main city, police said.
Israeli drones late on Friday killed five people when they attacked a convoy carrying hundreds of Lebanese security forces and civilians fleeing a southern town caught in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.
escape
Hundreds of Lebanese soldiers and civilians fleeing the Israeli bombardments were in the convoy, which several hours previously had left Marjayun escorted by two UN Interim Force in Lebanon armored vehicles.
Before dawn Israeli warplanes staged a series of raids on the southeastern village of Khiam, 7km from the border with Israel, as well as the neighboring village of Dibbine, police said.
Khiam was the site of a major Israeli incursion last week which saw the Shiite stronghold village surrounded in a pincer movement around two entrances.
Israeli aircraft also attacked a Hezbollah stronghold in the southern part of the eastern Bekaa valley from where the Shiite militia has been firing rockets against Israel.
Hezbollah also fired a salvo of 20 rockets at Israel from south Lebanon's al-Arqub region overlooking Galilee, police said.
Through the noise of rushing papers and whirring belts at a print factory in Kyoto, two creators watch their photo essay come to life in broadsheet form — part of an effort to win new audiences in the age of artificial intelligence (AI). Despite the decline of the publishing industry, self-publication and handmade “zine” magazines are growing in popularity in Japan, reflecting the nation’s enduring love of paper in the digital era. While speaking to Agence France-Presse at the plant, his hands black with ink, one of the creators, Kazuma Obara, said: “I think [paper] is a medium that engages all five
‘CROSSING THE LINE’: China’s embassy in Seoul criticized US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson, asking if his ‘hostile’ remarks were authorized by Washington South Korea and the US are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea, Seoul’s presidential office said yesterday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say that he had “truly crossed the line.” The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington might seek to expand the role of US Forces Korea in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key
‘ABSURD MISTAKE’: The election commission said that there had been a failure to anticipate turnout after 14 polling stations ran short of ballot papers South Korean riot police yesterday cleared protesters from a Seoul polling station after a 35-hour blockade sparked by a shortage of ballot papers during local elections earlier this week. Wednesday’s election was the first nationwide vote since South Korean President Lee Jae-myung took office following the ouster of Yoon Suk-yeol over his short-lived martial law declaration. Lee’s ruling Democratic Party swept most races, but failed to flip the crucial Seoul mayoral seat. The South Korean National Election Commission apologized, blaming a failure to anticipate turnout after 14 polling stations in Seoul ran short of ballot papers. Some polling stations stayed open until 10pm to
Australian researchers have trained lab-grown brain cells on a silicon computer chip to play the 1990s shooter game Doom and said they are just scratching the surface of what the neurons could be capable of doing. It is the science-fiction work of biotech boffins at Cortical Labs, who researched and developed the technology that harnesses the workings of the brain’s networking system. Each so-called “biological computer” contains about 200,000 living human brain cells, grown from stem cells that were harvested from blood donations. Having mastered the simple computer game Pong, where a paddle is moved up and down to send a ball
RSS