Mideast Crisis: Talks Fail and Fighting Intensifyies

July 26, 2006 --

U.S., Others Fail to Agree on Cease-Fire
U.S., European and Arab officials holding crisis talks on Lebanon failed to agree Wednesday on an immediate plan to halt the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah guerrillas. (AP)

Israel Troops 'Ignored' UN Plea
UN peacekeepers in south Lebanon contacted Israeli troops 10 times before an Israeli bomb killed four of them, an initial UN report says. (BBC)

14 Israeli Troops Killed by Hezbollah
Hezbollah inflicted heavy casualties on Israeli troops as they battled for a key hilltop town in southern Lebanon for a fourth day Wednesday, with as many as 14 soldiers reported killed. Lebanese officials, meanwhile, confirmed that four U.N. observers were killed by an Israeli airstrike on their post Tuesday night. (AP)

Hezbollah Leader Vows to Begin Launching Missiles Deeper into Israel
Hezbollah's leader, looking tired, vowed Wednesday that his guerrillas would begin firing rockets deeper into Israel, beyond Haifa. One of his deputies acknowledged that Hezbollah had not been expecting an all-out Israeli onslaught after the capture of two Israeli soldiers. (AP)

Nasrallah on Al-Manar TV: 'What is Important is in the Ground War is the Number of Losses We Inflict Upon the Israeli Enemy"
The following are excerpts from an interview with Hizbullah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, which aired on Al-Manar TV on July 26, 2006. (Memri)

Iran Warns the West: Ignore Us at Your Peril
Iran warned the west yesterday that attempts to broker a Lebanon peace deal at today's Rome summit are destined to fail and it predicted a backlash across the Muslim world unless Israel's military forces were immediately reined in. (Gaurdian)

Allies Losing Patience With U.S. Terms for Cease-Fire
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's calls this week for a deliberate approach to building "a new Middle East" are facing increased skepticism among many who ordinarily would be America's strongest backers in efforts to end the conflict in Lebanon.(L.A.Times)

Many Americans Stuck in Southern Lebanon
About 100 foreigners, most American, remain stuck in Southern Lebanese port city of Tyre. (AP)

Lebanon Aid Convoy Updates
A UN-led aid convoy carrying much-needed humanitarian supplies made its way by road on Wednesday from Beirut to Tyre in southern Lebanon, which has been particularly badly affected by Israeli air strikes. (BBC)

600 Taliban Killed in Bloodiest Month for 5 Years
More than 600 suspected Taliban fighters have been killed over the past month, the bloodiest period in southern Afghanistan since their regime was overthrown five years ago, US officials said yesterday. (The Guardian)

Bali Bombers Execution Date Set
Three men convicted over the 2002 Bali bombings are set be executed next month, Indonesian officials said. (BBC)

Survey: 85% of Voters Approve U.N. Resolution
Eighty-five percent of voters approved the U.N. Security Council resolution condemning North Korea for its missile launches, while only 8 percent gave the opposite view, an Asahi Shimbun survey found. (Asahi)