Beirut – As Israeli troops drove deeper into southern Lebanon on Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew into Beirut for a difficult, five-hour surprise visit with Lebanese leaders, who expressed growing frustration over the U.S. role in the conflict.
Rice, who later flew to Jerusalem, told reporters that she had begun her Mideast trip in Beirut “because I’m deeply concerned about the Lebanese people and what they’re enduring. President Bush wanted me to make this the first stop.”
Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and other senior officials made it clear to Rice that they wanted an immediate cease-fire and expressed dismay with what they saw as America’s implicit endorsement of Israel’s continued bombardment of Hezbollah targets around the country, Lebanese officials said.
Hezbollah, a militant Islamic group, controls the southern part of the country, where it has been launching missiles into northern Israel.
The secretary of state had said before the trip that she wanted to create conditions for a “sustainable” cease-fire. The 13-day- old conflict has claimed the lives of nearly 400 Lebanese and at least 41 Israelis.
Israeli troops were encountering heavy resistance as they closed in on a Hezbollah stronghold in southern Lebanon; at least four Israeli soldiers were killed in the fighting, and 15 others wounded.
In Gaza, meanwhile, shelling killed five people and injured several others.
Israel has sent about 3,000 troops to the border region to drive Hezbollah from a 6-mile swath of arid hills and stony valleys that Hezbollah militants have been using to launch rockets throughout the Galilee region. Hezbollah fired more than 80 rockets Monday onto a number of Israeli communities. The military reported that at least one person was seriously injured.
Monday’s fighting also saw Israel’s first capture of prisoners in the course of the conflict – two Hezbollah guerrillas who were seized near the town of Bint Jbail, according to military sources. Israel may be able to use the prisoners as leverage in a swap involving its own soldiers.
Two convoys carrying generators for hospitals, as well as food and medical supplies, left Beirut on Monday for the besieged southern city of Tyre and the town of Marjayoun, although Israel has yet to announce a safe route into the region for aid.
In London, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki broke ranks with his U.S. and British allies and warned that the continued international tolerance of civilian casualties in Lebanon would spread extremism that could endanger Arab regimes throughout the Middle East.
“I am afraid there will be a great push toward fundamentalism, and also a message – a negative one – to all those who want to follow the course of peace,” al-Maliki said.
On Monday evening, Rice met for dinner in Jerusalem with Tzipi Livni, the Israeli foreign minister. After consultations today with Israeli officials and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Rice is scheduled to travel to Rome for a meeting with Europeans, Arabs and other world leaders on the Middle East war.
David Welch, assistant U.S. secretary of state, said the U.S. intends to contribute $30 million toward an international relief fund that is aimed at raising between $100 million and $150 million. The United States is contributing medical kits for 100,000 people, 20,000 blankets and 2,000 plastic sheets.
