Beirut: The Lebanese Prime Minister rejected a United Nations (UN) cease-fire plan backed by US President George Bush, demanding that Israel immediately pull out from southern Lebanon.
The demand for Israel to pull out comes even before a peacekeeping force arrives to act as a buffer between Hezbollah and the Jewish state.
Meanwhile, fighting continued on Tuesday between Hezbollah guerrillas and Israeli forces in south Lebanon near the border with Israel.
One Israeli soldier was killed and five others wounded in clashes in Bint Jbail, the Israeli army said.
Fighting in Bint Jbail, also killed fifteen guerrillas, the military said.
Hezbollah Television, Al-Manar, claimed the guerillas had inflicted casualties on Israeli forces near the Mediterranean city Naqoura some four kilometres north of the border.
The Israeli army confirmed that clashes occurred in the western sector and that there were casualties, but did not say which side had suffered the losses or give the location of the incidents.
Prime Minister Fuad Saniora's stand, delivered Monday in a tearful speech to Arab foreign ministers, came on a day when 49 Lebanese were killed — one of the deadliest days for Lebanese in nearly four weeks of fighting.
His Cabinet, which includes two Hezbollah ministers, voted unanimously to send 15,000 troops to stand between Israel and Hezbollah should a cease-fire take hold and Israeli forces withdraw south of the border.
The move was an attempt to show that Lebanon has the will and ability to assert control over its south, which is run by Hezbollah, the powerful Shiite Muslim militia backed by Syria and Iran.
In Texas, Bush said any cease-fire must prevent Hezbollah from strengthening its grip in southern Lebanon, asserting "it's time to address root causes of problems."
He urged the UN to work quickly to approve a US-French draft resolution to stop the hostilities.
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