Israel: Fighting Will Go On For Weeks

(CBS/AP)  Fierce fighting between Israeli troops and Hezbollah guerrillas in southern Lebanon killed nine Israeli soldiers and wounded 22 others in Bint Jbail on Wednesday, the army said.

The Israeli military had disputed an earlier Al-Arabiya television report of 12 Israeli soldiers killed at Bint Jbail, saying only that several soldiers have been wounded in heavy fighting.

At the same time, the chief of Israel's northern command said he didn't expect a quick end to the fighting.

"I assume it will continue for several more weeks, and in a number of weeks we will be able to (declare) a victory," Maj. Gen. Udi Adam said at a news conference Wednesday.

A senior Israeli general told CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan that key to winning the fight against Hezbollah is to kill the group's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah.

A senior Hezbollah commander reportedly says the guerrilla organization hopes to hit the Israeli city of Netanya with its rockets.

Talks in Rome among senior officials from the United States, Europe and several Arab nations failed, in apparent disagreement over what kind of cease-fire would be urged to end the Israeli-Hezbollah fighting.

In other developments:

Iran's foreign minister is expected to arrive Thursday in a hastily arranged visit, apparently to discuss the Middle East crisis with Malaysia, the current head of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, officials said. A Malaysian Foreign Ministry official confirmed Mottaki's visit but had no other details.

Australia has decided to withdraw its 12 peacekeeping troops from southern Lebanon because of the danger, the defense minister says.

Israel hit a Lebanese army base and a relay station belonging to Lebanese state radio north of Beirut early Thursday, local TV and radio stations said. The Israeli military had no immediate comment on the reports.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki angered leading U.S. House and Senate Democrats when he spoke out against Israel in its conflict with Hezbollah. He spoke to a joint meeting of Congress on Wednesday, but did not address the issue. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said Maliki was asked at a breakfast with members of Congress if he considered Hezbollah to be a terrorist organization. He wouldn't answer.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for a cease-fire in Lebanon and criticized U.S. policy in the Middle East on Wednesday, saying Washington wants to "re-carve the map" of the region with Israel's help. Iran is a major backer of Hezbollah and a sworn enemy of Israel. He also called for talks on the Lebanon crisis without conditions and demanded Israel compensate the country and apologize for its actions.

More than 60 Iranian volunteers set off Wednesday to join what they called a holy war against Israeli forces in Lebanon.

Israeli air and artillery attacks in the northern Gaza Strip before dawn Wednesday killed 18 Palestinians, including at least 14 gunmen and three young girls — the latest violence on the second front of Israel's fight against Islamic militants.

The first U.N. convoy with food and medicine left Beirut on Wednesday for Tyre, a hard-hit port city in southern Lebanon, a U.N. agency, the World Food Program, said. Meanwhile, CBS News correspondent Vicki Barker (audio) reports that two Jordanian military transport planes landed at Beirut's airport with a field hospital and medical aid for people wounded in the Israeli bombardments. They were the first flights into the airport since it was bombed 13 days ago.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was rushed to the intensive care unit of a Tel Aviv hospital on Wednesday, a hospital spokeswoman said. Sharon's condition deteriorated significantly earlier in the week. He has been in a coma since suffering a massive stroke Jan. 4.

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