Israelis, Hezbollah Keep Up Attacks

Journalists in southern Lebanon reported repeated barrages of bombs and rockets from Israeli planes and shells from heavy artillery just south of the border, many aimed at bridges and roads that connect the region's towns and villages. The Israeli military said its planes had conducted 90 attacks on Thursday.

Rockets hit two residential buildings in Tyre, along the Lebanese city's seafront. The target was unclear, but both buildings were around the corner from an office of Amal, a Shiite Muslim party whose leader, Nabih Berri, the parliament speaker, is negotiating on behalf of Hezbollah in efforts to reach a cease-fire and find a long-term solution to the crisis.

One blast sheared off a few stones and shattered windows along the street. Two battered air conditioners dangled from a first floor, still tethered to the wiring. The other rocket landed in the veranda of Bassam Tafla, a 41-year-old Red Cross worker. "I didn't see anything except the smoke," he said.

In an indication of the drastic conditions created by the continuous bombing, the International Committee of the Red Cross said its relief workers had entered the village of Blida on Tuesday and found bodies lying in the street and under the rubble of destroyed buildings. About 700 people, including 300 children, were found huddled in a Blida mosque, the Red Cross report said.

The Lebanese government estimated that more than 430 Lebanese have been killed since the conflict erupted after Hezbollah guerrillas captured two soldiers during a raid into northern Israel on July 12. The vast majority have been civilians, with Hezbollah acknowledging only a small number of casualties among its fighters. The Lebanese health minister estimated there could be as many as 150 to 200 more dead whose bodies have not yet been recovered from the rubble.

Hezbollah rockets and missiles have killed 18 Israeli civilians during the same period. Thirty-three Israeli soldiers have been killed, most of them in sharp ground fighting during Israeli attempts to capture Lebanese border villages and scour the surrounding hills for Hezbollah rocket-firing positions and weapons caches.

Some Israeli army generals had recommended expanding the ground operations in southern Lebanon after the casualties in Bint Jbeil on Wednesday, the deadliest day for Israeli forces since the start of the war. That recommendation was turned down by Israel's top security ministers at a meeting in Jerusalem. But the ministers authorized the call-up of as many as three divisions of reserve troops for what they called a "readiness exercise" rather than deployment to the front.

Israeli officials said that the uniformed military asked for the ability to call up reserves for training and that the security cabinet approved the maximum sought. Israeli military officials declined to comment on the size of an Israeli division, but said the call-up would likely involve "tens of thousands of troops" by the time it is complete.

Israel's uniformed military leadership pushed for a broader ground operation in southern Lebanon at a time when its stated goals of reducing Hezbollah rocket fire and uprooting guerrilla forces from a narrow band along Israel's northern border are proving elusive. But Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and his defense minister, Amir Peretz, have maintained that the operation is progressing according to plan and urged the public to have patience.

The call-up of reserves also underscored Israel's contention that Hezbollah's July 12 raid was designed to spark a wider war in the Middle East. "We don't need these troops to attack, but to train," said an Israeli official familiar with the security cabinet decision. "We need to be ready in case something happens in Syria or elsewhere."

Israeli officials suspect that Iran, a sponsor of Hezbollah, may have encouraged the July 12 attack to show its capacity to stir strife in the volatile region at a time of growing international concern over its nuclear program. Syria is also a gatekeeper for Hezbollah's weapons, and Israeli officials say the government in Damascus may be supporting the militia's operation to enhance its strength in the region.

At the United Nations, the Security Council issued a statement saying it was "deeply shocked and distressed" by Israeli strikes Tuesday on a U.N. compound that killed four military observers. It called on Israel to conduct an inquiry into the incident and to publish its findings "as soon as possible."

The council agreement followed two days of tense negotiations that pitted China, which lost one of its nationals in the bombing, against the United States. The Bush administration prevailed on China to drop demands to include language condemning Israel for "any deliberate attack" against the U.N. post.

It also struck language that would have granted the United Nations a role in the investigation. But China's U.N. ambassador, Wang Guangya, expressed frustration that the text had been "watered down."

He warned that the U.S. refusal to support China's demand could complicate negotiations on a variety of issues, including ongoing talks on a draft resolution demanding that Iran suspend its nuclear enrichment and reprocessing activities.

Wilson reported from Jerusalem. Correspondents Jonathan Finer in Safed, Anthony Shadid in Tyre and Nora Boustany in Amchit and staff writers Robin Wright in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Colum Lynch at the United Nations contributed to this report.