Israeli ground troops headed back across the border to strike Hezbollah outposts as another volley of rockets fell on northern Israel on the eighth day of an offensive that Israel said would have "no time limit" despite a flurry of international diplomatic activity.
Israeli helicopters also fired rockets on a residential Christian district in Beirut, the first direct strikes in the centre of the capital, raising concerns about the evacuation operation underway at the nearby port.
More than 300 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel unleashed a massive military assault it says is aimed at destroying the Hezbollah guerrilla group after the capture of two soldiers eight days ago.
The UN is drawing up plans for an international force to try to restore calm in Lebanon.
But US President George W Bush insisted Hezbollah and Syria had to be reined in before there could be peace in the region.
And Israel pressed on with a deadly new wave of attacks against southern and eastern Lebanon on Wednesday that left at least 54 civilians dead, including 21 in a single village where residents said 10 houses were destroyed.
Israel also continued its deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip which is aimed at retrieving another soldier held captive by Palestinian militants, killing seven people in raids on Wednesday.
Across the border in northern Israel, a civilian was killed Tuesday when a rocket hit a park in the resort of Nahariya in the latest of hundreds of rocket attacks by Hezbollah.
Over the past week 25 Israelis have been killed, most in a barrage of Hezbollah rocket fire across the border, including 12 soldiers.
Another eight rockets exploded in Israel's northern metropolis of Haifa on Wednesday, although there were no reports of casualties.
As the European Union and the United States prepared to send envoys to the region, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan outlined plans for an international force for Lebanon that he said should be “considerably larger” than the current 2,000-strong UN peacekeeping force.
But Israel - which has always rejected the deployment of foreign forces in its conflict with the Palestinians - said it was “too early” to discuss such a possibility.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to travel to the region although she was unwilling to be drawn on a specific date, saying she would only come when it is “helpful”.
President Bush again lashed out at Syria, amid fears the conflict in Lebanon and Gaza could spread across the region, no stranger to war.
“There are suspicions that the instability created by the Hezbollah attacks will cause some in Lebanon to invite Syria back in,” he said.
“In order to be able to deal with this crisis, the world must deal with
Hezbollah, with Syria, and to continue to work to isolate Iran.”
Israel warned its offensive could last at least another week - emboldened by strong public support at home and the lack of a ceasefire call from its ally Washington.
Beirut’s airport has been knocked out, ports bombed, bridges destroyed, power stations set ablaze and houses turned to rubble in scenes reminiscent of the country's devastating 1975-1990 civil war.
Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said the Jewish state is not planning to attack Iran or Syria, noting that it already has its “hands full” with Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
Another seven Palestinians were killed in Gaza on Wednesday, bringing to at least 93 the number of dead since it launched an operation, mainly targeting the ruling Hamas movement, to retrieve a captive soldier and halt rocket attacks.