More lives claimed as Lebanon violence continues unabated

Two of Israel's helicopters collided near Lebanon, causing four casualties. Picture / Reuters

BEIRUT - Israeli jets struck Lebanon overnight in a 10-day-old war that is claiming more lives and forcing thousands to flee but Hizbollah insisted it would only free two Israeli soldiers as part of a prisoner swap.

Four Israeli soldiers were killed in fierce battles with Hizbollah guerrillas inside Lebanon on Thursday, according to Al Jazeera TV. Israel said two of its troops were killed in the clashes and two of its helicopters collided near the Lebanese border causing four casualties.

Hizbollah said it lost two of its fighters in the clashes, which occurred just inside Lebanon near an area where Hizbollah killed two Israeli soldiers on Wednesday.

Elite Israeli troops have been launching small raids inside Lebanon to try to stop Hizbollah firing rockets into Israel.

Israel launched its assault after Hizbollah captured two troops and killed eight in a cross-border raid on July 12.

Its campaign has killed at least 312 people in Lebanon, the vast majority civilians, and displaced hundreds of thousands. At least 29 Israeli troops and civilians have been killed.

The United States, which has exerted no public pressure on Israel for a cease-fire, said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may travel to the Middle East next week to press for a political solution. It has demanded the release of the troops.

Hizbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said no amount of international pressure would deflect the guerrilla group from its demand that the Jewish state agree to a prisoner swap.

"If the entire universe came (to pressure Hizbollah) it will not bring back the Israeli soldiers unless through indirect negotiations and a prisoner swap," Nasrallah told Al Jazeera television in an interview.

Nasrallah, whose whereabouts are unknown, said Israel's attacks had not damaged the group's leadership structure.

"All this Israeli talk that they hit 50 per cent of our rocket capabilities and warehouses ... is wrong and nonsense," he said.

Hizbollah said it had destroyed two Israeli tanks in house-to-house fighting in the village of Maroun al-Ras. The group's al-Manar TV showed captured Israeli equipment, including a rifle, night-vision binoculars, grenades and a video camera.

The border clashes have shown the guerrilla group is still operating relatively freely near the hilly frontier despite a week of heavy Israeli artillery barrages.

Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz raised the possibility of a bigger ground offensive into Lebanon. So far the campaign has been mainly in the form of air strikes and limited, temporary incursions.

Nasrallah warned against such an escalation and said Hizbollah's rockets could still reach Israel even if its fighters were pushed back 10 or 20 km (6 or 12 miles) from the border.

"A land invasion will be a disaster for the Israeli army, a disaster for their tanks, officers and soldiers," he said, also suggesting that a UN initiative to end the fighting had failed and that the confrontation could be prolonged.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called for an immediate end to hostilities.

A 40-strong US Marine force landed in Lebanon to evacuate to Cyprus about 1200 Americans stranded with thousands of other foreigners, many of Lebanese origin.

France arranged for 550 French and other European nationals to embark from the battered southern port of Tyre.

- REUTERS