Israel Claims Iran Link to Crisis

Israel Claims Iran Link to Crisis

Israel has kept up attacks on Lebanon for a seventh day Hezbollah's capture of two Israeli soldiers last week was timed to divert attention from Tehran's nuclear programme, the Israeli PM has claimed. Ehud Olmert said that the cross-border raid in which the two soldiers were taken and eight others killed was co-ordinated with Tehran. US President George W Bush meanwhile accused Syria of trying to use the crisis to get back into Lebanon. About 30 people died in a seventh day of conflict, most of them in Lebanon. Lebanese PM Fouad Siniora said Israel was "opening the gates of hell and madness" on his country. In a BBC interview, he urged Hezbollah to release the two Israeli soldiers but said Israel's response to the crisis had been disproportionate. Mid-East crisis map Voices from the conflict As the unrest continues, the UN has announced that its non-essential staff are to join the tens of thousands of foreigners fleeing the crisis. Israel launched its assault and blockade last Wednesday after the two soldiers were captured. About 230 Lebanese people have been killed since then - the vast majority of them civilians, but including about 30 soldiers. The number of Hezbollah fighters killed is not known. Twenty-five Israelis have died - 13 civilians and 12 members of the military. Israel has frequently blamed Syria and Iran for arming and backing Hezbollah, but Mr Olmert's comments were the first explicit claim of Tehran's direct involvement in the capture of the soldiers, correspondents say. FOREIGNERS IN LEBANON Canada: 40,000 Philippines: 30,000 Australia: 25,000 US: 25,000 UK: 22,000 (inc. 10,000 with dual nationality) France: 20,000 Foreigners describe ordeal Trapped in southern Lebanon Mr Olmert said the timing of the incident was not an accident, and the international community at the G8 summit in Russia had fallen for it - discussing Lebanon rather than Iran's nuclear programme. His comments came at a meeting of Israeli ambassadors. Earlier, Israel's foreign minister met a UN team trying to negotiate a ceasefire, but said the soldiers' release and the deployment of the Lebanese army in the south would have to precede any ceasefire. Thousands more foreigners have continued to flee Lebanon as the crisis deepens. A British warship docked in Beirut at the start of a mission to transport up to 12,000 Britons and a further 10,000 people with dual British-Lebanese nationality to Cyprus. The US, Canada and other governments were also organising evacuations by land, air or sea. In other developments: UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said he expected European nations to contribute troops to a proposed stabilisation force to end the fighting The UN has warned of a humanitarian disaster as Lebanese flee their homes, with air strikes on roads and bridges hampering efforts to help them Lebanon's pro-Syrian President Emile Lahoud has vowed to stand by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah Shlomo Goldwasser, the father of one of the missing Israeli soldiers, said he hoped all means - legal or illegal - would be used to get his son Ehud back As Israel launched fresh cross-border attacks on Tuesday, six bodies were pulled from the rubble of a home in the Lebanese border village of Aitaroun, and another family was killed in the coastal city of Tyre. Eleven Lebanese soldiers were killed at a barracks east of Beirut. HAVE YOUR SAY Hezbollah, Syria and Iran are using our country as a battleground against Israel Nayef, Beirut Send us your comments The Lebanese army has been ordered not to respond to the Israeli attacks. But Lebanese soldiers have now died in several strikes, including one on the port of Abdeh on Monday in which nine died. In Tuesday's attacks by Hezbollah, an Israeli was killed in Nahariya. Rockets also hit the northern city of Haifa, Safed, Acre, Kiryat Shemona, and Gush Halav region near Safed, Israeli officials told AP news agency. Israeli military officials say more than 700 Hezbollah rockets have now landed in Israel since the crisis began.