Israel masses troops on Lebanon border amid invasion fears

BEIRUT: 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 mounting calls for a ceasefire. 

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned that an Israeli invasion of Lebanon would see a dramatic escalation of Hezbollah attacks and 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 the 'false promise' of a ceasefire but said she would travel to the region on Sunday in search of a long-term solution. 

Lebanon said its army was ready to go into battle if Israel invaded, an action that would sharply raise the stakes in a conflict that in just 10 days has killed close to 340 people in Lebanon and forced more than half a million to flee their homes.

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

Israeli Defence 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 the side of the Jewish state. 

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

She said 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.

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

But a military spokesman said ground operations too would be necessary to put a stop to Hezbollah rocket fire against Israel and added that a major ground attack had not been ruled out.

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

Some 3,000 reservists had already been called up to clean up the border zone on the Lebanese side by limited operations aiming to destroy Hezbollah's infrastructure, he added.

UN envoy Vijay Nambiar, just back from the region, gave a downbeat assessment to the UN Security Council of the chances for peace, saying there were serious obstacles to halting the fighting in Lebanon "in the immediate future".

Rice said she would meet Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on her trip to the region and would then head to Rome for international talks on the crisis.

Once again rejecting EU and Arab calls for an immediate ceasefire, Rice said: "I think we are beginning to see outlines of a political framework that might allow the cessation of violence in a more sustainable way."