Hizbollah kills 11 Israelis, highest toll yet

MAALOT, Israel, Aug 3 (Reuters) Hizbollah rockets killed eight people in northern Israel today and three Israeli soldiers died in combat in southern Lebanon, the highest number of Israeli dead since fighting began on July 12.

The eight civilian deaths, in the cities of Acre and Maalot, raised to 27 the number of people killed by rocket fire from Lebanon during the current conflict.

Three Israeli soldiers were killed separately in fighting in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army said. The 11 deaths were the highest in one day for Israel in the more than three week war.

More than 130 rockets struck within one hour in the late afternoon, killing eight people and wounding dozens, police said.

It was the highest number of Israeli dead in a rocket attack since eight people were killed in the port city of Haifa on July 16.

The latest barrages were another sign the guerrilla group was still a potent threat to Israel despite comments yesterday by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that Israel had destroyed its infrastructure.

''Israel will actively seek out and pursue Hizbollah, until these murderous attacks cease and until quiet is restored to northern Israel,'' said David Baker, an official in Olmert's office.

Hizbollah fired more than 200 rockets into Israel yesterday, in its most intense one-day barrage of the conflict.

On a road outside Maalot, cars screeched to a halt and motorists ran for cover in ditches at the sound of explosions. Smoke rose over the town and a nearby forest.

''People have been holed up in shelters -- it is difficult, but people understand that soldiers are still fighting in Lebanon and we will get through this period,'' Acre Mayor Shimon Lancry said on Channel 2 television.

Some 10,000 Israeli troops have pushed into southern Lebanon in the ground offensive against Hizbollah. Israel's Channel 10 television said the army had carved out a ''security zone'' of 20 Lebanese villages up to six km from the border.

''They will remain until a multinational force arrives,'' the television said, quoting the army. It did not specify whether this meant the military had completed its planned advance in south Lebanon.

The army's chief spokeswoman, Brigadier-General Miri Regev, said the military, which pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2000, had no intention of making its current deployment permanent.

''We do intend to clear an area near the border with Lebanon of Hizbollah terrorists to stop them from firing at Israel and to hit their infrastructure,'' she told Army Radio. ''At the moment we have seven divisions inside the area.'' Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora said 900 people had been killed by Israeli attacks in Lebanon.

Sixty-seven Israelis, including 40 military personnel, have been killed in the violence, which began after Hizbollah killed eight soldiers and kidnapped two others in a cross-border raid.

Reuters SBA GC2300