Crisis in the Lebanese border

Hezbollah fired Katyusha rockets into Israel from multiple locations across the border and the Israel Defense Forces replied with heavy shelling and aerial attacks, according to a statement from the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon.

The Israeli campaign is aimed at “changing the reality on the northern border,” Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz said Thursday.

“Hezbollah must not in the future be what it has been in the past,” Peretz said. “This may take time and it may take more force. We have both in plenty.”

“We will not agree for Hezbollah flags again to fly in our faces on the northern border,” he said.

The IDF has concentrated most of its attacks around the border communities of Maroun al-Ras, Bint Jbeil and Yarun, UNIFIL said.

The Israeli military said that over the past 24 hours, more than 150 rockets had landed inside Israel.

Thursday evening, at least five rockets struck various targets in the northern Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona, causing several fires.

A Katyusha rocket caused a major blaze at the warehouse of a laundry detergent factory, the IDF said. Some of the rockets landed near a shopping center.

Earlier Thursday, Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets that fell in fields near Safed, Carmiel, Maalot and Shlomi in northern Israel, the IDF said.

Since July 12, at least 401 people — mostly civilians — have been killed in Israeli strikes, Lebanese sources said. The IDF said the death toll from Hezbollah rockets striking Israel and the fighting in southern Lebanon is 50 — 19 of them civilians.

The fighting also has wounded about 1,500 people in Lebanon and more than 300 civilians in Israel, the sources said.

Conflict has been raging since July 12, when Hezbollah guerrillas seized two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.

Another Israeli soldier was abducted June 25 on Israel’s other battlefront, Gaza, by Palestinian militants, including members of Hamas’ military wing.

Thursday, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas indicated there may be developments soon in the abduction of that soldier — Israeli army Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

A Hamas military spokesman denied reports that Shalit could be released imminently, The Associated Press reported.

Israel nixes expanded campaign

Israel decided Thursday not to expand its military offensive in Lebanon, but will call up additional troops to bolster its fight against Hezbollah.

The decision was made at a meeting of Israel’s Security Cabinet.

The Cabinet turned down a request by military commanders to launch an expanded campaign.

However, the ministers decided to call up additional reserves to support the troops in Lebanon, the report added.

Three additional reserve divisions, comprising thousands of troops, would be called up, The Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, al Qaeda’s second in command pledged Thursday that the terror group would not “stay silent” on the conflict in southern Lebanon.

The video statement by Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s top lieutenant, was broadcast on the Al-Jazeera television network.

Al-Zawahiri’s statement came the day after international efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in Lebanon stalled at a conference in Rome.

Peacekeeping force work in progress

Thursday, diplomatic sources said at least four countries had offered to participate in a possible multi-national peacekeeping force in Lebanon.

France, Italy, Turkey and Norway indicated a willingness to participate in the international peacekeeping force envisioned for Lebanon if a cease-fire can first be brokered, according to diplomatic sources familiar with discussions at Wednesday’s emergency summit in Rome.

The Israel Defense Forces on Wednesday suffered its largest loss of life in its offensive against Hezbollah guerrillas. Nine Israeli soldiers were killed while fighting in southern Lebanese towns.

Eight soldiers were killed and 22 more were wounded in Bint Jbeil, near the Israeli border, while battling militiamen in what the IDF has called Hezbollah’s “terror capital.”

In nearby Maroun al-Ras, an Israeli army officer was killed and five soldiers were wounded in fighting, according to the IDF.

There were heavy casualties among Hezbollah fighters in Bint Jbeil, according to Israeli soldiers. The Islamic militia has not released casualty figures since fighting began.

On Tuesday the IDF said it had taken control of the city. On Wednesday it said more troops were being sent there.

Israel suffered “major losses” with the deaths of nine soldiers on Wednesday, Peretz said, but “this will not break our will.”