the country from the outside world
Four civilians were killed and 10 wounded in the air strikes north of the capital, the Lebanese Red Cross said. A previous count put the number of casualties higher.

A Lebanese soldier and four civilians were killed and in air raids near Beirut's airport and southern suburbs that also wounded three other troops, security officials said.

The destruction of four bridges on the main north-south coastal highway linking Beirut to Syria further sealed Lebanon from outside links, as the Israeli naval blockade and earlier strikes against roadways have largely closed off other access points.

Fierce fighting continued along the border, and Hezbollah said in a statement that its fighters had killed six Israeli soldiers near the villages of Aita al-Shaab and Markaba. Media reports said the group had hit an Israeli tank. The Israeli army did not comment on the claims.

The clashes came a day after Hezbollah fighters fired a massive barrage of rockets on northern Israel, killing eight people. They also followed and an offer by Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah to stop the attacks if Israel ends its air strikes.

Israel's United Nations ambassador, Dan Gillerman, said that Nasrallah's offer of a truce was "a sign of weakness ... and he may be looking for a way out."

Gillerman warned against Hezbollah threats to launch rockets on Israel's commercial center of Tel Aviv. "We are ready for it, and I am sure that he (Nasrallah), as well as his sponsors, realize the consequences of doing something as unimaginable and crazy as that," the Israeli ambassador told CNN early Friday.

Two Israeli soldiers died Friday and two others were wounded in clashes with Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon, the army said.

The Israeli military said the targets of the latest attacks in the southern Beirut suburb of Dahieh were Hezbollah facilities and a Hamas office. Security sources said Israel launched 19 bombing runs in less than an hour.

Residents interviewed on Lebanese television said the air raids leveled Hezbollah -run schools, a sports facility and a youth center.

The ferocious bombing also destroyed scores of fishing boats at a small port in Ouzai and a plant where fish is processed.

South Beirut has been attacked repeatedly by Israeli warplanes since fighting began July 12. However, Friday's bombing expanded beyond the Haret Hreik and Bir el Abed areas where Hezbollah has its headquarters.

Also, for the first time, the strikes early hit the affluent Christian area of Jounieh north of Beirut. The bombing against the picturesque coastal resort marked a sharp expansion of Israel's attack on Lebanon, which now threatens Christian areas where Hezbollah has no support and no presence.

"The whole war, essentially, was bad but this, in the heartland of Christian Lebanon, is not clever politically," said a furious Camille Shamoun, an architect who lives in the hills above Jounieh.

"Initially I was not supporting Hezbollah but I'm sure this will change public opinion dramatically," he added.

Two of the bridges completely leveled and the two others were left with large holes gouged into the structures, prompting army troops to block traffic on the roadways. Rescue workers, fearing that other corpses were still hidden under the collapsed concrete, searched through the rubble.

Close to the Madfun bridge, the daughters of Lebanese Christian Joseph Bassil were yelling with grief as they mourned the death of their father who was killed as he was taking his morning walk by the bridge.

In the hills of southern Lebanon, Israeli artillery intensified bombing overnight, sometimes sending as many as 15 shells per minute against suspected Hezbollah strongholds.

Despite Hezbollah 's truce offer and continuing diplomatic efforts to broker a ceasefire, the Israeli army prepared to push up to Lebanon's Litani River, about 20 kilometers north of the border, as part of its campaign to force the fighters away from the border and make room for a planned international force to patrol the area.

In the 24th day of Israel's punishing onslaught, Hezbollah has shown surprising strength and has found its support in Lebanon — and among the larger Arab world — vastly bolstered. With calls for a ceasefire growing more intense, it appeared likely that Hezbollah would emerge damaged but far from destroyed by the fighting.

Prime Minister Fouad Saniora said the fighting has left around 900 Lebanese dead, mainly civilians.

In his televised speech broadcast Thursday night, Nasrallah for the first time offered to stop firing rockets into Israel if it stops its air strikes. But he also threatened to launch missiles into Tel Aviv if Israel hits Beirut.

"Anytime you decide to stop your campaign against our cities, villages, civilians and infrastructure, we will not fire rockets on any Israeli settlement or city," he said in a taped statement broadcast on Hezbollah 's Al-Manar TV.

Speaking directly to Israelis, Nasrallah added, "The only choice before you is to stop your aggression and turn to negotiations to end this folly."

Israeli officials shrugged off the offer, saying Hezbollah was on the defensive and was looking for a breather.

At the United Nations, France circulated a revised resolution calling for an immediate end to hostilities and spelling out the conditions for a permanent ceasefire and lasting solution to the crisis

Sources: Naharnet, Ya Libnan