July 20 (Reuters) – Following are developments in the Middle East.
* Hizbollah fight fierce battles with Israeli troops on Lebanese border, as thousands more foreigners flee 9-day-old war in Lebanon
* The fighting has killed at least 311 people in Lebanon and 29 in Israel
* Israeli forces take casualties in heavy fighting with Hizbollah guerrillas just inside Lebanon. Al Jazeera TV says four Israelis are killed. Israeli media report eight soldiers wounded. Hizbollah says one of its fighters is killed.
* Israeli army says 30 rockets fired by Hizbollah land in northern Israel, cause no casualties
* U.S. Marines arrive in Lebanon to evacuate about 1,000 Americans in the U.S. military’s first return to Lebanon since it withdrew in 1984
* Israel believes its bombing campaign in Lebanon has destroyed 50 percent of Hizbollah’s military capability, Israel Radio quotes Transport Minister Shaul Mofaz as saying. Hizbollah says it has not been weakened militarily
* EU gives Lebanon 10 million euros humanitarian aid, expresses ‘grave concern’ over humanitarian situation
* U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan calls for an immediate end to hostilities
* U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice may travel to Middle East next week to press for political solution to reduce fighting
* Israel says it would welcome any help Germany can give in trying to free the two soldiers held by Hizbollah but reiterates rejection of Hizbollah proposal for prisoner swap
* Syria and Russia call for cease-fire, France presses for a U.N. resolution urging cease-fire, Washington has refused so far to pressure Israel for cease-fire
* Israel, which has imposed sea and air blockade of Lebanon and bombed main road to neighboring Syria, says it will let aid into Lebanon to ease threat of humanitarian crisis
* Israeli troops kill Palestinian in clashes in central Gaza refugee camp. Separate air strikes in same area kill two militants. Israel’s offensive, launched June 28, has killed about 110 Palestinians, half of them militants.
The Israelis have also called for all those living in southern Lebanon to evacuate (where are they supposed to go, are the roads still functional?) in anticipation of a wider Israeli campaign:
Israel: Lebanese in south should flee now
Israel army crosses border at some parts, 2 soldiers die in Lebanon clash
NBC News and news services
Updated: 5:32 p.m. ET July 20, 2006
BEIRUT, Lebanon – Israeli troops met fierce resistance from Hezbollah guerrillas Thursday as they crossed into Lebanon to seek tunnels and weapons for a second straight day, and Israel hinted at a full-scale invasion.
Israel warned residents to “immediately� flee a nearly 20-mile swath of south Lebanon along the border. Its warplanes also launched new airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hezbollah stronghold, shortly after daybreak, followed by strikes in the guerrillas’ heartland in the south and eastern Bekaa Valley.
Lebanon’s defense minister has said the Lebanese army will join the battle to defend Lebanon if Israel launches a ground invasion.
Two Israeli soldiers were killed in a clash with Hezbollah guerrillas in south Lebanon, the military said. The soldiers were part of a force operating not far from the border, looking for Hezbollah guerrillas, bases and weapons, it said.
They encountered Hezbollah forces, the military said, and a heavy exchange of fire followed in which the two soldiers were killed and several others wounded. The military said Hezbollah also suffered losses.
[…]
‘Very limited, specific incursion’
Israel has mainly limited itself to attacks from the air and sea, reluctant to send in ground troops on terrain dominated by Hezbollah.
But an Israeli army spokesman refused to rule out the possibility of a full-scale invasion. Israel broadcast warnings Wednesday into south Lebanon, telling civilians south of the Litani River to “leave their areas immediately for their own safety� — a possible prelude to a larger ground operation.
“There is a possibility — all our options are open. At the moment, it’s a very limited, specific incursion but all options remain open,� Capt. Jacob Dallal, an Israeli army spokesman, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Leaflets dropped Wednesday night warned that any trucks traveling in Lebanese towns south of the Litani River would be suspected of carrying weapons and rockets and could be targeted by Israeli forces.
A Hezbollah official said it was “fully ready� for an Israeli ground offensive, dismissing Israeli claims to have destroyed half the guerrillas’ arsenal of missiles. Mahmoud Koumati, deputy leader of Hezbollah’s political bureau, told the Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. the group has enough missiles to fight Israel for “long months.�
The Lebanese government is under international pressure to deploy troops in the south to rein in Hezbollah — but even before the fighting, many considered it too weak to do so without deeply fracturing the country.
NBC News’ Rob Windrem and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
URL: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/13929959/