The Arabist

The Arabist

By Issandr El Amrani and friends.

Latest developments

Current death toll: 418 Lebanese, 42 Israelis dead. Still 10 to 1.

July 25, (Reuters) - Here are developments in the Middle East on the 14th day of Israel's bombardment of Lebanon.

* Israeli air raid in south Lebanon kills four U.N. military observers in attack which U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan describes as "apparently deliberate."

* Israel says it regrets deaths of U.N. military observers in southern Lebanon and will investigate air strike that killed them.

* Deaths come on eve of international conference in Rome where Arab and some European nations are expected to call for immediate end to war over U.S. objections.


* Israel vows to pursue its war against Hizbollah and establish no-go zone for guerrillas in southern Lebanon until international force arrives.

* After meeting U.S. Secretary of State Rice, Israeli PM Olmert says both agree that disarming Hizbollah, deploying foreign force in its place are key to resolving crisis.

* Hizbollah chief Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah says conflict with Israel enters new phase and that guerrilla group will not accept any "humiliating" conditions for cease-fire.

* Israeli warplanes bombard south Beirut and launch 100 strikes across south Lebanon.

* Hizbollah rockets slam into Israeli city of Haifa.

* On battlefield inside southern Lebanon, Israeli troops and tanks fight Hizbollah in guerrilla stronghold town of Bint Jbeil; Israel says it kills up to 30 fighters.

* Death toll is 418 in Lebanon, 42 Israelis killed.

* Israel says its troops shoot dead senior Hizbollah commander Abu Jaafar near Lebanese border village of Maroun al-Ras.

* Rice says cease-fire can come only as part of wider deal.

* Aid workers start supply runs into southern Lebanon but some villages remain cut off, Red Cross says; U.N. agency warns food crisis looms in areas worst hit by Israeli bombardment.

* Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warns conflict could sweep through Middle East like hurricane; Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah says it could ignite wider war.

* Rice says need to remain focused on establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.