As Israeli troops battled Hezbollah fighters in southern Lebanon on the ground, the air war also intensified. Hezbollah rockets killed eight civilians in northern Israel. And Israeli warplanes bombed parts of Lebanon's capital, Beirut, for the first time in a week.
The leader of Hezbollah, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, said he would stop the rocket attacks if Israel stopped its attacks on towns in Lebanon. But he also threatened to strike Tel Aviv if Israel hit downtown Beirut.
Also Thursday, a new report from a human rights group accused Israel of not doing enough to avoid hitting civilians. The group, Human Rights Watch, says it based its report on interviews with survivors of attacks, visits to bomb sites and contacts with Israel's defense forces.
Israeli warplanes have resumed attacks on Beirut's southern suburbs, the Hezbollah strongholds devastated by earlier attacks. Lebanon's prime minister says the death toll among Lebanese civilians has now reached 900.
The United Nations estimates up to 1 million Lebanese have been displaced by the conflict, fleeing from the fighting and airstrikes.
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