world how they can "humiliate" Israel by attacking towns deep inside the Jewish state.
"I am talking about people who are looking to show the world a new [vision] of victory," said Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah in a televised speech aired by Hezbollah’s Al-Manar TV network and monitored by BosNewsLife.
"As we surprised them at sea and we surprised them in Haifa, we will surprise them…beyond Haifa," he said, just hours after Hezbollah rockets slammed into that northern Israeli port city, killing eight civilians at a train station and wounding seven adding to fears the five-day-old conflict could become an all-out war involving several countries.
HEIGHTENED ALERT
Israeli authorities put residents across the north and in the central city of Tel Aviv on heightened alert, reflecting the longer range of the missile attacks. Israel has accused Syria and Iran of providing militants with more sophisticated weapons. Syria has denied active involvement in the conflict, while Iran has praised Hezbollah for its actions, without providing more details.
Hezbollah, which means ‘Party of God’ is dedicated to eliminating Israel and has formally advocated ultimate establishment of Islamic rule in Lebanon. Nasrallah claimed Hezbollah had tried to avoid targeting civilians but had been given "no choice" by Israel.
"The Zionists did not understand our warnings and carried on with their strikes. Today we had no choice, and therefore we bombed Haifa," he stated. "Had we targeted the plants, this would have been a disaster for the residents," Nasrallah said.
FIGHTERS READY
He spoke on Beirut-based Al-Manar television, which has been hit by Israeli air strikes, but somehow managed to stay on air. Nasrallah stressed his fighters were "looking forward" to a confrontation with Israeli tanks and claimed his group had many more rockets, which could reach beyond Haifa and Tiberias in northern Israel.
The Hezbollah-leader made the comments as American President George W. Bush appeared increasingly isolated in his support for Israel’s military action.
In St. Petersburg Russia, where the Group of Eight (G8) nations was meeting Sunday, July 16, Bush repeatedly refused to answer reporters’ questions about whether he backed a ceasefire as proposed by the Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora. Instead, he blamed Syria, Iran and Hezbollah, which is holding two captured Israeli soldiers. Russia and most European leaders accused Israel of escalating the violence by using "disproportionate" force.
MODERATION URGED
French President Jacques Chirac called for "a show of moderation on the part of all parties…so that we can establish the conditions of a long-lasting, lasting cease-fire in the region." Over 100 people, including children, are said to have been killed since Israeli forces began attacking Lebanon five days ago.
As the fighting continued, hundreds of thousands of people tried to reach Syria, officials said. Christian workers were also expressing concern about the situation. In a statement received by BosNewsLife Sunday, July 16, the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Middle East said it feared more violence after "rockets fired from Israeli warplanes" landed "close to the Mouseitbeh Adventist School," in Beirut earlier.
The United States Embassy in Beirut said it was preparing to evacuate US citizens from Lebanon. A military assessment team reportedly arrived in Beirut Sunday, July 16, to investigate the situation on the ground for a possible evacuation of an estimated 25,000 Americans to the neighboring Mediterranean island of Cyprus.
EUROPEANS EVACUATED
About 350 people, most of them Europeans, were already evacuated Saturday night and early Sunday from Lebanon to Cyprus aboard Italian military flights, news reports said. Fighting continued into late Sunday, July 16, with reports that Israeli warplanes fired missiles at a Lebanese civil defense building in the southern port city of Tyre, killing at least nine civilians and wounding 42. Lebanese television spoke of 20 people killed. Israel reportedly also attacked Beirut’s airport again, setting a fuel tank ablaze
As people in Lebanon and Israel collected the dead and wounded, Pope Benedict XVI on Sunday, July 16, expressed his concern over the escalation of fighting in Lebanon. He denounced terrorism and retaliation in "the Holy Land."
The fighting opened a second front for Israel, which was already battling Hamas-linked Islamic militants in the Gaza Strip following the capture of an Israeli soldier June 25. Israel has since expanded its mission from the immediate need to free the three soldiers to a campaign to halt rocket fire from Gaza and to neutralize Hezbollah in Lebanon. (Stay with BosNewsLife for continuous coverage).
