Day 19 in Lebanon

Toll
* At least 523 people, mostly civilians, killed in Lebanon. Fifty-one Israelis, including 18 civilians, killed.

Diplomacy drive
* British Prime Minister Tony Blair said agreement on peacekeeping force for Lebanon could come within days and this could allow ceasefire. Blair facing open Cabinet revolt with former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemning Israel for causing "death and misery to innocent civilians". United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressing for deal on an international force. UN meeting tonight.

United Nations Aid
* Israel rejected United Nations appeal from humanitarian coordinator Jan Egeland for three-day truce to allow in aid and for casualties to be removed. "We cannot accept a ceasefire with Hizbollah because this terrorist organisation would exploit it to gather civilians ... as human shield in the combat zone," Foreign Ministry official Gideon Meir said. Israel had agreed to set up humanitarian corridors. Aid groups complain they have little access to south Lebanon.

US shooting
* US police stepped up security at Seattle synagogues and mosques, after a Pakistani-American Muslim man, who said he was angry at the Iraq war and US military cooperation with Israel, shot dead one woman and wounded five others at Jewish centre. Suspect Naveed Afzal Haqhid behind a pot plant in Jewish charity's foyer and forced his way through a security door by holding gun to 13-year-old girl's head, police said. Once inside, he opened fire with two semiautomatic pistols.

Ground fighting
* Israeli tanks and armoured vehicles pulled back from Bint Jbeil towards Marun al-Ras, closer to the border. Tanks massing near Israeli village of Metula.

Air attacks
* Israeli air strike on building in Qana, southern Lebanon, caused at least 40 civilian casualties. The three-storey building, where about 100 civilians were sheltering, was partially destroyed. A strike killed woman and six children in southern village of Nmeiriya. Khaim in southern Lebanon pounded by warplanes and artillery. Two Indian soldiers with UN peacekeeping force wounded in another strike. Three Israeli missiles struck near Lebanese Masnaa border crossing into Syria, forcing its closure.

Hizbollah
* Hizbollah fired at least 90 rockets into northern Israel. Leader Hassan Nasrallah accused Rice of serving only Israel's interests. He said: "There are many cities in central Israel which will come into target range ... if the barbaric aggression on our country and people continues."