The attack on the store in the Bekaa Valley in north-east Lebanon came as Hezbollah again stepped up its barrage of rockets, raining down at least 195 on Israel - 45 in one hour - killing four Israelis and wounding at least 44.

The mounting Israeli death toll and the army’s inability to prevent the deluge of Katyushas despite a huge display of military force during the 23-day operation generated growing criticism over its slow progress and apparent impotence.

Three Israeli soldiers were killed and an officer was severely wounded today when they were hit by rocket-propelled grenades in separate clashes in the villages of Taibeh and Markaba close to the border.

The continued fighting and failure of the international community to impose a ceasefire also sparked a wave of demonstrations across the region where thousands of protesters took to the streets of Amman, Baghdad and Cairo chanting anti-Israeli and anti-American slogans.

A small group of demonstrators attacked the British Embassy in Tehran with stones and firebombs and burning the Union Flag because of Tony Blair’s perceived support for Israel.

Officials in Tel Aviv, Israel’s largest city with a population of 1.5 million, began preparing bomb shelters today after the Hezbollah leader, Hassan Nasrallah, threatened to target it with long-range missiles if central Beirut was bombed.

Hours after he spoke that was exactly what the Israeli Air Force did. Jets flew more than 150 sorties in the morning striking at targets across Lebanon, bombing the Christian heartland of north Beirut for the first time.

Four bridges on the northern coastal road from Lebanon to Syria were bombed, "cutting the umbilical cord for aid getting into Lebanon" according to the UN. Other roads to the border were severed in earlier attacks.

Astrid van Genderen Stort of the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, said: "Aid trucks are stranded now. We were already way behind in getting supplies into Lebanon and refugees and evacuees out, so this is disastrous."

The bridge at Maameiltein which spans a six-lane highway was cut in the centre, and a number of vehicles using the motorway were caught in the attack.

Rescue workers took six hours to uncover all the bodies from the wreckage. Lebanese officials said 71 bridges have been destroyed so far and the damage to Lebanon's infrastructure is put at over £2 billion.

Israeli military sources said that the bridges were struck to deny Syria’s effort to resupply the Hezbollah fighters, which continued despite repeated warnings to Lebanese authorities to halt the traffic.

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