Israel battles Hizbollah on ground and from air

The forces crossed the border as part of ongoing operations to push back Hizbollah guerrillas who have continued firing rockets into northern Israel despite more than a week of massive bombardment.

Israel, meanwhile, hinted at a full-scale invasion. It warned residents to flee a nearly 32-km swath of south Lebanon along the border. Its warplanes also launched new airstrikes on Beirut’s southern suburbs, a Hizbollah stronghold, shortly after daybreak, followed by strikes in the guerrillas’ heartland in the south and eastern Bekaa Valley.

The planes also bombed large parts of the south, from which Hizbollah guerrillas fired more rockets into Israel. On Wednesday, Israeli bombings killed as many as 70 people, according to Lebanese television, making it the deadliest day since the fighting began July 12.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the Security Council that “hostilities must stop’’ between Israel and Hezbollah. He also condemned Israel’s “excessive use of force’’ in Lebanon.

“There are serious obstacles to reaching a ceasefire or even to diminishing the violence quickly,’’ Annan said.

The fighting had triggered a humanitarian crisis, he added. The UN estimated that about a half-million have been displaced in Lebanon, with 130,000 fleeing to Syria and about 45,000 believed to be in need of assistance.

Russia joined France in demanding a ceasefire on Thursday. ‘‘We are calling, as a first step, for the immediate declaration of a ceasefire,’’ Russia’s Kommersant newspaper quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying.

An Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera quoted Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora today as saying in an interview that Hizbollah had created a ‘‘state within a state,’’ adding: ‘‘The entire world must help us disarm Hizbollah. But first we need to reach a cease-fire.’’

Saniora later issued a statement denying the remarks. He said he told the paper that the international community must help press Israel withdraw from Chebaa Farms, a small border area that Lebanon claims and Hizbollah uses to justify armed resistance.