AFP Forum

MIDEAST - ISRAEL - LEBANON - UNREST - ARMY

Israeli girls write messages in Hebrew on shells ready to be fire by mobile artillery unit toward Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon 17 July 2006, at a military staging area along the northern Israeli border with Lebanon. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed today to continue Israel's punishing twin offensive against the "terrorists" of Hezbollah and Hamas, declaring his country was facing a "moment of truth". At least 47 people were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon today and 10 more bodies found, pushing the death toll from the Israeli offensive to more than 200 over the past six days. The overall toll now comprises 195 civilians and 12 soldiers killed in Lebanon since 12 July, medics and police said. Nine of the 12 soldiers were killed today. More than 440 people have been wounded. AFP PHOTO/PEDRO UGARTE
PEDRO UGARTE / AFP