The attack on the port city came after a day in which the Israeli military imposed a land, sea and air blockade on Lebanon and killed more than 50 people in attacks on Hezbollah targets.

Hezbollah retaliated by raining more than 100 Katyusha rockets into northern Israel, hitting big population centres such as Nahariya and Haifa, a city of 250,000 people that is 30 kilometres (18 miles) inside Israel.

Brigadier General Dan Halutz, the Israeli Chief of Staff, emphasised that the offensive, prompted by the cross-border raid in which Hezbollah guerrillas captured two Israeli soldiers and killed six others on Wednesday, was open-ended. “Nothing is safe (in Lebanon), as simple as that,” he said.

Daniel Ayalon, the Israeli Ambassador to the US, called the rocket attack on Haifa a “major, major escalation” and said that Israel was now at war. “The objective is to win this war,” he said. Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, likewise gave warning of a new regional war.

The Israeli offensive split the West, which watched the unfolding drama with growing alarm. President Bush said that Israel had the right to defend itself, although he expressed concern that Lebanon’s Government could be undermined. Last night the US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli incursions into Gaza. Britain abstained.

The European Union condemned what it called Israel’s disproportionate use of force. Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, said that Israel was entitled to respond to inexcusable acts of provocation, but added that its reaction should be proportionate and should avoid civilian suffering.

President Ahmadinejad of Iran weighed in, warning Israel against taking the war to Hezbollah’s mentors in Syria. “If the Zionist regime commits another stupid move and attacks Syria, this will be considered like attacking the whole Islamic world and this regime will receive a very fierce response,” Mr Ahmadinejad was quoted as saying in a telephone conversation with President Assad of Syria.

But Saudi Arabia broke ranks with the Muslim world, indirectly blaming the crisis on the “irresponsible actions” of Hezbollah.

Fearing a conflagration that could destabilise the region, the UN Security Council has called an emergency meeting today. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary-General, dispatched a peace mission to the Middle East.

The Israeli blockade began early yesterday, when jets bombed runways at Beirut’s airport, forcing flights to divert to Cyprus. Later they hit two military airbases, apparently to prevent weapons being smuggled in from Syria or Iran, or the captured soldiers being smuggled out. Last night fuel tanks at the airport were set on fire by Israeli missiles.

Israeli aircraft hit numerous Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon and Hezbollah’s al-Manar television station in southern Beirut. Lebanese security officials said that ten members of one family were killed in the village of Doueir, and seven in Baflay.

Israeli warships took up position off the Lebanese coast, turning away three ships carrying fuel to Beirut and halting maritime traffic. Jets bombed the main highway from Beirut to Damascus, the Syrian capital, along which thousands of tourists had been fleeing.

Hezbollah’s counter-barrage struck border towns, kibbutzes and farms. Its missiles killed two Israelis, injured about 90 others, and sent thousands rushing into bomb shelters.

Schools closed and hospitals moved patients to basements. Residents of towns such as Nahariya, Kiryat Shmona, Safed and Karmiel fled and lines of cars headed south piled high with bags. An estimated 500,000 Israelis were within range of the missiles.

Israeli military officials told The Times that whereas Hezbollah’s Katyushas or Grads had a range of only 20km its Iranian-manufactured Fajer could strike a target 70km away and the later Fajer 5 model 100km, enough to reach far south even of Haifa. They estimated that Hezbollah had 10,000 rockets.

PAST INCURSIONS

Operation Spring of Youth, April 1973 Israeli Special Forces raid West Beirut, assassinating three members of Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) as revenge for the murder of Israeli athletes at 1972 Munich Olympics

Operation Litani, March 1978 Fatah militants kill 36 Israeli civilians. Israel responds by invading Lebanon

Operation Peace for Galilee, June 1982 Attempted assassination of Israeli Ambassador to Britain provides casus belli for invasion of Lebanon by Israeli Defence Force (IDF). Hezbollah forms as opposition to occupation

Operation Accountability, July 1993 Week-long artillery and air bombardment by IDF attempts to destroy Hezbollah and Palestinian militants' power-base in South Lebanon. Ceasefire brokered by US

Operation Grapes of Wrath, April 1996 Israeli jets strike Lebanese power stations and suspected Hezbollah bases

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