Israel pounded Lebanon from the air on Friday in its bloody 10-day-old assault against Hezbollah, but the guerrilla group insisted it would only free two Israeli soldiers it is holding as part of a prisoner swap. Israel said two of its helicopters collided near the Lebanese border, killing a pilot and injuring three crewmen.
Israeli strikes killed 41 people across Lebanon on Monday, including 10 civilians hit on a southern bridge, on the sixth day of a bombardment that has wreaked the heaviest destruction in Lebanon for over 20 years. Rescuers also pulled nine bodies from the wreckage of a building in the southern city of Tyre that was bombed on Sunday.
Israeli air strikes killed 17 people in Lebanon on Monday and Hezbollah announced more rocket attacks on Israel after world powers put the onus on the Syrian- and Iranian-backed Shi’ite guerrilla group to end the fighting. Overnight raids destroyed two army posts on the northern Lebanese coast, killing nine Lebanese soldiers, and damaged the homes of Hezbollah officials in eastern Lebanon