Israel warns that its offensive in Lebanon could widen, grow more severe if diplomacy fails

(AP) Israeli forces took control of the strategic southern hub of Marjayoun on Thursday and warned that its fight against Hezbollah could grow wider and more severe if diplomacy fails.

Israel's defense minister, Amir Peretz, said the military would use "all of the tools" to cripple the Islamic guerrillas if attempts for a cease-fire pact collapse at the United Nations.

Israel's leaders have authorized a major new ground offensive going deeper into Lebanon, but held off to give international negotiators more time. There were clear signals, however, that Israel was already setting its sights on Lebanon's capital and beyond.

In Beirut, Israeli warplanes blanketed downtown with leaflets that threatened a "painful and strong" response to Hezbollah attacks and warned residents to evacuate three southern suburbs. Other warnings dropped from planes said any trucks on a key northern highway to Syria would be considered targets for attack.

Earlier, missiles from Israeli helicopter gunships blasted the top of a historic lighthouse in central Beirut in an apparent attempt to knock out a broadcast antenna for Lebanese state television.

The seizure of the southern town of Marjayoun and nearby areas overnight appeared to be an attempt to consolidate bases in southern Lebanon before any possible push northward. It gives Israel an important foothold for any deeper drives into the country.

Marjayoun _ a mostly Christian city about five miles from the Israeli border _ was used as the command center for the Israeli army and its allied Lebanese militia during an 18-year occupation of southern Lebanon that ended in 2000. The high ground around Marjayoun, including the village of Blatt, overlook the Litani River valley, one of the staging sites for the relentless Hezbollah rocket assault on northern Israel.

Israel suffered its worst one-day military losses on Wednesday, with 15 soldiers killed, most in other areas of the south away from the Marjayoun area.

Taking command of Marjayoun was not considered a key battlefield victory since the city gives little support to Hezbollah. But reaching the site required passing through Hezbollah country, the scene of fierce fighting.

Hezbollah claimed it destroyed 13 Israeli tanks. Israel did not immediately give a tally of its losses.

Israeli gunners used their new vantage points as payback: pounding Hezbollah-led areas such as the plain around the nearby town of Khiam, which has been used as a rocket site for the militants.

Still, Hezbollah was defiant. It fired 110 rockets into northern Israel by mid-afternoon, including one that hit Haifa, Israeli police said. An Arab Israeli mother and her young daughter were killed in the village of Deir al-Assad. Lebanese officials reported at least four civilian deaths Thursday.

On Wednesday, Hezbollah leader Sheik Hassan Nasrallah warned in a television address that Israeli Arabs in Haifa should flee for their own safety and threatened more strikes on the port city, already hit repeatedly by Hezbollah rockets.

More than 800 people in Lebanon and Israel have died since fighting erupted.

In Ibl el-Saqi, a village about two miles east of Marjayoun, the mayor said nearly all residents had fled to the north.

"They all left this morning. There was very intense shelling last night," said Riad Abou Samra.

But it seemed fewer and fewer areas of Lebanon were safe from the threat of Israeli attacks, including the relatively untouched heart of Beirut.

The leaflets that fluttered down over Beirut Thursday said "the Israeli Defense Forces intend to expand their operations in Beirut." They said the decision came after statements from "the leader of the gang" _ an apparent reference to Nasrallah's television address.

Israel also extended its warnings to areas north of Beirut. Leaflets said trucks "of any kind" would face attack after 8 p.m. along the northern coast road to Syria.

A round-the-clock road curfew has been in force across southern Lebanon since early Tuesday.

Israeli warplanes pounded a coastal highway junction connecting three major southern cities _ Sidon, Tyre and Nabatiyeh. The junction already had been nearly cut off in a strike on July 12 _ the first day of fighting _ which spared only a single lane. It was not clear if the road was completely severed in Thursday's hits.

The strike at the historic lighthouse, built early last century during French colonial rule, was the first in central Beirut since a warning Aug. 3 by Nasrallah that such a move would bring retaliation against Tel Aviv.

The capture of Marjayoun came just hours before a senior Israeli official, Rafi Eitan, announced an expansion of the ground offensive would be delayed to give diplomats at the United Nations time for cease-fire deal. Lebanon and its Arab allies demand Israel withdraw its forces as part of any cease-fire.

The planned offensive would thrust toward the Litani River valley, 18 miles north of the border _ aimed at crippling Hezbollah before a possible cease-fire.

The offensive is expected to last a month and eliminate 70 to 80 percent of Hezbollah's short-range rocket launchers, but not its long-range launchers, senior military officials said.

However, Trade Minister Eli Yishai, who abstained in Wednesday's vote, said the assessment is too optimistic. "I think it will take a lot longer," he said.

Israel is now waiting to see whether Arab and Western diplomats can find a solution to end the monthlong conflict.

"There are diplomatic considerations. There is still a chance that an international force will arrive in the area. We have no interest in being in south Lebanon. We have an interest in peace on our borders," Eitan told Israel Radio.

The U.S. ambassador to Lebanon, Jeffrey Feltman, met three times Thursday with Prime Minister Fuad Saniora, whose aides reported no progress on negotiations to find a cease-fire.

In other developments:

_ The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, travels to the Middle East Friday. He plans to visit Beirut before traveling to Israel and the Palestinian territories.

_ Richard Huguenin, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said Israel has repeatedly denied requests to reach Lebanese civilians, including a family believed trapped in an abandoned orphanage in Maarub, about 12 miles from Tyre. The Red Cross estimates roughly 33,000 people are still living in villages in south Lebanon, another 27,000 in Tyre and 40,000 Palestinians in four camps in the south.

_ In Geneva, the top U.N. humanitarian official, Jan Egeland, said it was a "disgrace" that both Israel and Hezbollah have hindered relief efforts.

_ The World Food Program's coordinator in Lebanon, Zlatan Milisic, said Israeli bombing of bridges and roads is creating huge obstacles for aid convoys to reach tens of thousands of displaced Lebanese.