You asked about: The latest Lebanese-Israel conflict

What's going on?

Israel and Shiite Muslim group Hizbollah, which is backed by Iran and Syria and based north of the Lebanese-Israeli border, have exchanged fire for more than a week.

The fighting has lit up the night sky and claimed the lives of at least 235 Lebanese and 25 Israelis, most of them civilians.

Israeli attacks have been particularly unforgiving, targeting airports, roads, factories, bridges and petrol stations as well as striking public buildings and homes.

How did it start?

The latest conflict started after a Hizbollah cross-border raid on July 12, in the process seizing two Israeli soldiers, killing eight and wounding six others.

Hizbollah wants to swap the captured soldiers for Lebanese and Arab prisoners in Israeli jails.

What was the reaction?

Israel declined.

Its retaliation has inflicted the heaviest damage on Lebanon since the 1982 Israeli invasion to expel Palestinian fighters.

A recent Israeli airstrike killed nine family members, including children, in a village, while warplanes bombed Lebanese Army barracks east of Beirut, killing 11 soldiers and wounding 30.

Hizbollah attacked an Israeli naval vessel off Beirut, killing four sailors, and has fired hundreds of rockets across the border.

An estimated 100,000 Lebanese have been displaced, with many pouring into Syria.

Thousands of foreigners are being evacuated, including about 80 New Zealanders, who are being taken to the nearby Mediterranean island of Cyprus.

Who is trying to stop it?

Diplomacy has been ineffective.

Israel has said it will continue the assault until the soldiers are returned unconditionally. Yesterday it started moving ground troops towards southern Lebanon in order to attack Hizbollah outposts.

It also wants Hizbollah to disarm in line with UN Security Council resolutions.

The Lebanese Government has repeatedly called for a ceasefire, but is too weak and divided to force Hizbollah to yield to any demands.

And the international community?

It has mostly condemned both sides while calling for the soldiers to be returned.

Many leaders fear no end to the fighting in the near future and a possible escalation to all-out war.

Other nations, such as France, have called Israel's response disproportionate, while the US has stressed Israel's right to defend itself.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been trying to garner support for an international security force, but several parties have questioned it, including the US, which asked how it would stop Hizbollah attacks.