Middle Orient

Lebanon has accused the United States of blocking a Security Council statement calling for a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, and said the impotence of the UN’s most powerful body sent wrong signals to small countries.

Israel continued to pound Beirut’s southern suburb on Sunday, the fifth successive day of an offensive on Lebanon. The air strikes, which killed 35 civilians on Saturday, including 15 children, were meant to punish the Lebanese government for failing to disarm the resistance group Hezbollah.  

At least 12 Lebanese villagers, including women and children, were killed on Saturday in an Israeli air strike on vehicles fleeing a village in southern Lebanon, a witness said. The convoy was leaving the border village of Marwahin when it was attacked.

Palestinian economy ministry in Gaza hit BEIRUT (Reuters) — Israel killed at least 34 civilians on Saturday, including 15 children, in air strikes meant to punish Lebanon for letting Hizbollah guerrillas menace the Jewish state’s northern border.

CAIRO (AFP) — The Arab League on Saturday declared the Middle East peace process to be “dead” as foreign ministers met in an emergency session in Cairo and unanimously condemned the Israeli offensive in Lebanon.

ST PETERSBURG — Middle East conflict muscled its way onto the Group of Eight (G-8) agenda on Saturday, setting the United States, a strong backer of Israel, against those who say the Jewish state has been too violent.

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration, having stayed mostly on the sidelines during the latest Middle East crisis, now faces the threat of a broader regional conflict with few options for defusing it.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM (AP) — A missile fired by Hizbollah, not an unmanned drone laden with explosives, damaged an Israeli warship off Lebanon, the army said Saturday.

SANAA (AFP) — A Yemeni court has jailed 12 intelligence officers for up to three years after convicting them of negligence in the February escape of 23 suspected Al Qaeda members, official media said Friday.

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran’s leadership has rejected demands to freeze sensitive nuclear work contained in an international proposal aimed at resolving the crisis over Tehran’s nuclear drive, an official was quoted as saying Saturday.