25 Lebanese killed in deadly Israeli air strikes

Lebanese Prime Minister Fuoad Siniora revised the death toll from an Israeli air strike on the southern Lebanese border village of Houla, saying that the attack only killed one civilian, the BBC reported.

“They thought that the whole building smashed on the heads of 40 people," Mr Siniora told reporters in Beirut.

"Thank God that they have been saved,” he said.

Earlier, Mr Siniora broke down in tears as he told Arab Foreign Ministers meeting in Beirut that a “horrific massacre” took place in Houla.

Several houses have been destroyed in the Israeli air strike on Houla. But witnesses said about 50 people have been found alive under the rubble.

More than 25 people have been killed Monday in deadly Israeli raids across Lebanon, security officials said.

Witnesses said more than six civilians were killed when an Israeli missile struck their house in southern Lebanon.

Loud explosions were also heard in souther Beirut suburbs; a Hezbollah stronghold that Israel has regularly targeted since the conflict began nearly four weeks ago.

There were also several air strikes in and around Baalbek in the eastern Bekaa valley.

The latest air raids came amid further clashes on the ground, with Israeli troops fighting Hezbollah fighters in the southern Lebanese village of Houla.

Hezbollah said it killed four Israeli soldiers on Monday but Israel claimed that only four of its troops were slightly wounded, Reuters news agency reported.

The fighting follows fierce battles on Sunday, which saw Israel's highest death toll in a single day since the start of the war.

At least twelve Israeli soldiers died in an attack on the town of Kfar Giladi and three people were killed in the port of Haifa.

Israel claimed on Monday that it destroyed Hezbollah rocket launchers around Qana and Tyre that were used to attack Haifa.

An aid official in Tyre says the city, which now has only about 3,000 people left – many of them poor and elderly - has been cut off by Israeli bombing, adding that a huge crater blocks the farm track used to transport food and medicine to the city.

"We must be able to have movement throughout the country to deliver supplies. At this point we can't do that," said the UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, David Shearer.

"The deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure is a violation of international law."

More than 1,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Lebanon since the start of Israel's 26-day-old offensive, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. At least 80 Israelis, most of them soldiers, have also been killed.

Israel to hit strategic civilian infrastructure

Vowing to continue its deadly offensive in Lebanon, the Israeli army announced that it will hit Lebanon's strategic civilian infrastructure and symbols of the Lebanese government, Israel’s Haaretz newspaper reported on Monday.

"We are now in a process of renewed escalation. We will continue hitting everything that moves in Hezbollah -- but we will also hit strategic civilian infrastructure," a top General Staff officer told Haaretz.

The newspaper didn’t say what symbols of the Lebanese government the Israeli army will target.

Israeli officials also said that the army would expand its ground offensive in Lebanon.

A military source told Reuters that the army had warned residents of south Lebanon to stay indoors after 10 p.m. (1900 GMT) on Monday.

"Anyone who does travel is taking a high risk. There is no end period," the source said. "This will allow us to track anyone potentially trying to launch rockets."

Israeli warplanes have already caused extensive damage to Lebanon's infrastructure, including roads and bridges that Israel claims Hezbollah uses to launch rockets at Israel.

Arab leaders call for Israel’s withdrawal

At the Arab League meeting, Mr Siniora slammed Israel’s deadly attacks, saying: "If these horrific actions are not state terrorism then what is state terrorism?"

He said that the Israeli offensive took "our country back decades. We are still in the middle of the shock."

The Lebanese premier also appealed to fellow Arab states to help a nation "stunned" by a nearly four-week Israeli offensive that has devastated Lebanon's infrastructure and left hundreds of civilians dead.

According to Reuters, members of the 22-nation Arab League called for the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Lebanon as part of any UN resolution to end the conflict.

Lebanon strongly rejects a French-U.S. sponsored resolution, expected to be passed by the UN Security Council on Monday or Tuesday, which calls for the end of all hostilities in Lebanon but fails to demand Israel to withdraw its 10,000 troops from southern Lebanon.

The resolution calls for a "full cessation of hostilities based upon, in particular, the immediate cessation by Hezbollah of all attacks and the immediate cessation by Israel of all offensive military operations."

After the resolution is adopted, another draft will be proposed in a week or two setting conditions for a permanent ceasefire and authorizing an international force to deploy in southern Lebanon.

France’s UN ambassador Jean-Marc de la Sabliere said changes would probably be made to the UN draft resolution after Arab states endorsed Lebanon's calls for an Israeli withdrawal.

Israel “happy” with UN draft

A top Israeli official said Israel considers the draft resolution favorably, noting that it allows Israel to respond to Hezbollah attacks once a ceasefire takes effect, and that it doesn't demand Israel to withdraw its forces from its northern neighbor.

Israeli media also quoted political sources who said Israel was largely happy with the UN resolution.

"We got what we wanted. The meaning of the decision is that there is no black hole or quiet vacuum. Israel will leave only when someone comes to replace her," Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted a political source as saying.

Israeli Justice Minister Haim Ramon also said the Jewish state would continue its war on Hezbollah until a truce takes effect, and then respond to any attacks afterwards.

"We must continue the fighting, continue to hit whomever we can hit from Hezbollah," Ramon told Army Radio.

Israel commits crimes against humanity

The head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) accused Israel of committing crimes against humanity in Lebanon and Gaza, Turkish Press reported.

“As OIC Secretary-General, I condemn Israel's merciless attacks on Gaza and Lebanon. Those attacks claiming lives of hundreds of civilian people, destroying infrastructure in Palestine and Lebanon, are nothing but war crimes which target innocent civilians by violating all international laws and conventions,” Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told a news conference at Istanbul's Yildiz Palace.

“Israel commits a crime against humanity in Lebanon. Nothing can justify Israeli offensive against Lebanon,'' he added.

Slamming the UN Security Council for failing to condemn Israel for its barbaric attacks on Lebanon and Gaza, Ihsanoglu said that the Council is “obliged to preserve independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon, and to protect lives of Palestinian and Lebanese civilians. As United Nations Secretary-General Annan pointed out earlier, prestige and dignity of the Security Council is in danger. Declaration of a cease-fire in the region is an absolute necessity. This cease-fire should be followed by an exchange of prisoners,'' he added.

When asked whether Hezbollah is a “terrorist organization”, Ihsanoglu said that the group is “a formal party in Lebanon. It is coalition partner of Lebanese government. Thus, we cannot comment on this issue over official stance of Lebanese government.''

Ihsanoglu also said that the “OIC is determined to use all its capabilities to reach a cease-fire, and to provide both Lebanon and Palestine with political and humanitarian assistance”.

The OIC had earlier demanded an inclusion of Muslim forces in any future peacekeeping operation. The 57-member organization also launched a campaign for reconstruction of Lebanon and opened a bank account for donations.

Lebanese groups slam aid “inefficiency”

A group of 35 Lebanese organizations slammed the government for failing to deliver desperately needed aid to those displaced by Israel’s massive offensive in Lebanon, AFP reported.

"Since the first day of the aggression, we have been working as relief services. We tried to coordinate with the government, but the inefficiency meant that we had to step in and do their work," said Nizar Rammal, acting coordinator for the civil society organizations.

"The civil society organizations should not be a replacement for the government," he added.

Medicines have been piling up in warehouses, while some deliveries have arrived with goods missing, Rammai told reporters in Beirut. "Trucks leave full and arrive here half empty," he said, implying foul play along the way that led to goods being siphoned off onto the black market.

"It is shameful," he said.

More than a million people have been displaced since the start of the Israeli offensive. Many of them are stranded in schools, car parks and public gardens and some are housed in private homes.

Aid groups also warned of an outbreak of epidemics due to the cramped conditions and the lack of aid reaching the refugees.

"We are particularly worried about measles," said Rammal, expressing fears of water shortages.

"As the fallout from the aggression and the ensuing numbers of the displaced increase, the role of officials and the government has so far remained hesitant and inadequate given the state's responsibility towards its citizens," read a statement signed by the civil society organizations.

"Thus far, transparency and accountability remain deficient," it added.

The civil society organizations also demanded the Lebanese government to devise a strategy to tackle the existing humanitarian situation and to design plans for the return of the displaced to their homes and the reconstruction of Lebanon.