Israel Gears up for Massive Ground Assault as World Dithers

Israel massed thousands more reservists on the Lebanese border on Saturday to mount incursions aimed at destroying Hezbollah positions, warning it would not rule out a full-scale invasion despite increasing calls for a ceasefire.

The New York Times reported the United States is rushing a delivery of precision-guided bombs to Israel, citing unnamed officials.

French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in Cairo the spiraling conflict could lead to the "destruction of the Lebanese state", while UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that an Israeli invasion would see a dramatic escalation of Hezbollah attacks.

Annan also said Syria and Iran should be involved in resolving the crisis.

Residents of Lebanon's south, terror-stricken and exhausted as Israel's air campaign entered its 11th day, waved white scarves as they streamed to safer havens further north after another Israeli warning to flee the frontier zone.

Despite criticism of US support for the bombardment, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice reaffirmed her rejection of what she called the "false promise" of a ceasefire, but said she would travel to the region on Sunday in search of a long-term solution.

The New York Times said the precision-guided bombs were requested by Israel last week after the air campaign began. It said the disclosure threatens to anger Arab governments and others because of the appearance that the US is actively aiding the Israeli bombing campaign in a way that could be compared to Iranian efforts to arm and resupply Hezbollah.

Tehran denies that it arms Hezbollah, saying it gives only moral support to the Shiite movement.

Israel's air war far from over

While a land offensive is prepared, bombs still rain down

Israel's request for rush delivery of the satellite- and laser-guided bombs was described as unusual by some military officers, and an indication that Israel still had a long list of targets to strike in Lebanon, the paper said.

Israel said its aircraft had hit 150 targets inside Lebanon in the 24 hours to Saturday morning, including a dozen roads linking Lebanon to neighboring Syria as well as suspected Hezbollah positions.

Lebanon has said its army is ready to go into battle if Israel invades, which would sharply raise the stakes in a conflict that in just 10 days has killed close to 340 people, mostly civilians, in Lebanon and displaced more than half a million.

"The Lebanese army will resist and defend the country and prove that it is an army worthy of respect," said Defense Minister Elias Murr, whose forces have so far stood on the sidelines of the conflict.

Israel would invade "without a thought"

Israel prepares to take on Hezbollah in Lebanon

Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz had warned that Israel would launch a full-scale ground invasion "without thinking twice" if necessary to crush Hezbollah, which has long been a thorn in its side.

But British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, who has drawn Arab criticism for failing to back UN calls for a ceasefire, warned Israel of the dangers of a full-scale invasion.

She told the Financial Times the "very dangerous situation" could be at a turning point where "a miscalculation, a mistake could have dramatic effects and that I find deeply alarming."

But an Israeli military spokesman said ground operations would be necessary to stop Hezbollah rocket fire on Israel, and that a major ground attack had not been ruled out.

Ground operations in Lebanon were "indispensable because the air force can not always destroy underground bunkers dug by Hezbollah, which has put in place an entire fortified network," military spokesman Captain Yaacov Dalal said.

Reservists called up; tanks massing

Redeployed troops arrive from the West Bank and Gaza