Beirut, NU Online
Hizbollah fired more rockets into Israel on Wednesday than on any previous day of the 22-day-old war, killing one Israeli and wounding 123 after helicopter-borne commandos launched Israel's deepest raid into Lebanon.

Air strikes in support of the helicopter raid in the Hizbollah stronghold of Baalbek in northeastern Lebanon killed 19 people, including four children. Israeli helicopters were also seen hovering in the west of the Bekaa Valley on Wednesday.

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Israeli sources said around 10,000 soldiers were now battling Hizbollah in southern Lebanon. The United Nations force in the area reported heavy exchanges of fire, with bombings in some areas and intensive shelling across the south.

In Jerusalem, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel would fight on until an international force reaches south Lebanon -- even though no country has volunteered to send troops in the absence of a truce and a durable ceasefire agreement.

Olmert called for an international combat force to implement a U.N. resolution calling for Hizbollah to be disarmed, saying Israel had already destroyed much of the group's military power.

Soon after he spoke, one of at least 206 rockets launched by Hizbollah landed just inside the West Bank after flying further than any fired at Israel in the past three weeks.

Israeli police and Hizbollah said it was the highest number of rockets fired into Israel on one day since the war began. The barrage, which killed one person near the northern city of Nahariya, followed a two-day lull in such attacks. (reu/dar)