Israel destroyed the home and office of Hizbullah's leader today and tightened its seal on Lebanon, blasting its air and road links to the outside world to punish the guerrilla group - and with it, the country - for the capture of two Israeli soldiers.
Hizbullah's Sheik Hassan Nasrallah and his family were safe after missiles demolished the two buildings in Beirut's crowded southern neighbourhoods, Hizbullah said.
Mr Nasrallah vowed all-out war against Israel, hinting of attacks deep inside the Jewish state.
In a dramatic phone call to Hizbullah's TV station, he said an Israeli navy vessel was burning off Beirut and would sink. Israel said the ship was lightly damaged by a rocket attack.
Earlier Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed the massive campaign would continue until the guerrillas were neutralised.
Warplanes again smashed runways at Beirut's airport with hours of airstrikes, trying to render it unusable, and destroyed mountain bridges on the main highway to Syria.
Warships blockaded Lebanon's ports for a second day. The death toll in three days of fighting rose to 73 killed in Lebanon — almost all civilians, — and 12 in Israel, including four civilians killed by Hizbullah rockets.
President Bush telephoned Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora and assured him he was pressing Israel to "contain the damage" to Lebanon and avoid civilian casualties, Mr Siniora's office said in a statement.
But the White House said this afternoon that while Mr Bush wants Israel to minimise the risk of casualties in its campaign in southern Lebanon, he will not press it to halt its military operation
Mr Snow said Mr Bush "believes the Israelis have the right to protect themselves and that in doing that they should limit as much as possible so-called collateral damage not only to facilities but also to human lives".
Asked whether he agreed to Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora's request to tell the Israelis to limit their military operations, Mr Snow said: "No. The president is not going to make military decisions for Israel."
At an emergency meeting of the UN security council today, Israel said it was responding to an act of war but Lebanon call for an immediate cease-fire.
French President Jacques Chirac, describing Israeli strikes as "completely disproportionate", said: "One can ask oneself whether there isn't a sort of desire to destroy Lebanon."
The Vatican deplored Israel's "attack on a sovereign and free nation", Secretary of State Cardinal Angelo Sodano said.
The Lebanon violence is the fiercest since 1996 when Israel launched a 17-day blitz on Hizbullah strongholds in the south.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned Israel against expanding its campaign to attack Syria and said the Jewish state could not harm Iran.
Israel's army chief said today Hizbullah guerrillas have rockets that can reach as much as 45 miles or more, an admission that brings more major cities within their range.
In comments that were aired live on Israeli television, Brig Gen Dan Halutz also put the blame squarely on Lebanon's government for the numerous rocket attacks on northern Israel that have killed four people and injured several more.
Lebanon's Hezbullah guerrillas stepped up their rocket attacks on northern Israel today, killing a woman and her grandson.
Two people — a grandmother and her grandson — were killed and four injured after a rocket hit a house in Meron, bringing to nearly 40 the number of wounded in the latest round of attacks as fierce fighting between Israel and the Lebanese militants entered its third day.
The rockets hit more than a dozen communities across northern Israel, and the army said at least 60 of the projectiles had been fired at Israel from southern Lebanon on Friday.
Mr Olmert pledged to keep fighting the group until it is completely disarmed. Mr Olmert said Israel would not halt its offensive until Hezbullah was disarmed.
He made the comment in a telephone conversation with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Israeli government officials said.
Mr Olmert agreed to let a UN team come in and try to mediate a cease-fire, an official close to Mr Olmert said on condition of anonymity because he is not authorised to speak to the media.
But later today, Mr Olmert approved the continuation of the army's moves in Lebanon, citing the rocket attacks, which government officials called "a major escalation."
US President George Bush has defended Israel's attacks, but raised concerns they could weaken or topple Beirut's fragile government.
Asked about Mr Bush's reaction, Interior Minister Roni Bar-On said: "Well, we're very interested in the government of Lebanon, but they have to understand that as long as our citizens are not going to live peacefully near the borders, nobody is going to live peacefully in Lebanon."
Israel's air force has hit numerous targets in Lebanon, focusing on infrastructure it believes holds rockets and other arsenals belonging to Hezbollah and its leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, including its headquarters in Beirut.
Maj Gen Udi Adam, the chief of Israel's northern command, has not ruled out targeting Nasrallah himself, and Bar-On suggested the same.
Mr Nasrallah "has issued his own sentence. I doubt if he would be able to find a life insurance agent these days," the minister told Y-net, the website of the Yediot Ahronot daily newspaper.
On Wednesday, Hezbullah guerrillas snatched two Israeli soldiers in a brazen cross-border raid, and Israel responded by launching its heaviest offensive in Lebanon in 24 years, using warplanes to bomb many targets, including Beirut's airport.