At least 319 people have been killed in Lebanon in the Israeli campaign,
according to Lebanese security officials. Thirty-four Israelis also have been
killed, including 19 soldiers.
Hezbollah said two of its fighters had been killed in the latest fighting
with Israeli troops, bringing to five the number of guerrillas killed since
Israel launched a massive military campaign against Lebanon after the militant
Shiite Muslim group captured two of its soldiers on July 12.
Annan denounced Israel for "excessive use of force" and Hezbollah for holding
"an entire nation hostage" with its rocket attacks and snatching of two Israeli
soldiers last week.
The United States - which has resisted calls for it to press its ally
Israel to halt the fighting - was sending Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice to the region, arriving in Israel Tuesday or Wednesday after stopping over
in Arab nations, Israeli officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity
because the schedule was not yet confirmed.
The mission would be the first US diplomatic effort on the ground since the
Israeli onslaught against Lebanon began nine days ago.
Ships lined up at Beirut's port as a massive evacuation effort to pull out
Americans and other foreigners desperate to flee the fighting picked up speed.
U.S. officials said more than 8,000 of the roughly 25,000 Americans who live or
work in Lebanon will be evacuated by the weekend.
Lebanese, meanwhile, streamed north into the capital and other regions,
crowding into schools, relatives' homes or hotels. Taxi drivers in the south
were charging up to $400 per person for rides to Beirut - more than 40
times the usual price. In remote villages of the south, cut off by strikes,
residents made their way out over the mountains by foot.
The price of food, medical supplies and gasoline rose by as much as 500
percent in parts of Lebanon on Thursday as Israel's relentless bombardment
destroyed roads, bridges and other supply routes. The World Food Program said
estimates of basic food supplies ranged from one to three months.
Neither side showed any sign of backing down.
Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah shrugged off concerns of a stepped-up
Israeli onslaught, vowing never to release two Israeli soldiers captured by his
guerrillas. He said they would be freed only as part of a prisoner exchange
brokered through indirect negotiations.
