Hizbullah HQ destroyed in Israeli attacks

Israeli warplanes today destroyed the headquarters of Hizbullah's leader, Sheik Hassan Nasrallah, as the attacks on Lebanon intensified.

Hizbullah's television station said the Hizbullah leader's residence and offices were destroyed but added that Mr Nasrallah, his family and bodyguards were safe.

Less than an hour after the air strikes, a defiant audiotaped statement by Mr Nasrallah was broadcast on Hizbullah TV. He did not refer to the latest attacks but warned that his group would wage an "open war" against Israel.

It is not believed Mr Nasrallah, who is known to frequently move from one place to another amid high secrecy, was in the buildings at the time they were hit.

The reports of the buildings' destruction came after what was at least the second wave of attacks on the crowded, high-security area of south Beirut where they are situated.

Smoke rose from the Haret Hreik neighbourhood after four huge explosions shook the Lebanese capital. They were followed minutes later by a fifth blast; local television stations said a bridge on the southern edge of Beirut was among the targets.

Israel has struck hundreds of targets in Lebanon in recent days, including airports, roads and army bases. It is trying to put pressure on the Lebanese government and force Hizbullah to free two Israeli soldiers the militants captured on Wednesday to be used to barter for the release of Lebanese and Palestinian prisoners.

Seventy-three people have been killed in Lebanon since the offensive began. At least three people were reported to have been killed there today.

Meanwhile, 12 people have died in Israel, including four civilians killed by Hizbullah rockets. Israeli rescue services said today a mother and her daughter who had been wounded in a Hizbullah rocket attack had died.

Israeli jets struck the Beirut-Damascus road for a second day today, this time in the town of Chtaura in the Bekaa valley in eastern Lebanon. Two missiles hit a main intersection on the edge of the market town that connects central, northern and southern parts of the Bekaa with central Lebanon.

Earlier today, Israeli warplanes renewed attacks on the southern suburbs of Beirut, targeting a radio station belonging to the Hizbullah militants. That strike started a fire in the station's office, but the radio continued its broadcasts. Israeli aircraft had pounded the same neighbourhood overnight, destroying overpasses and punching large holes in road intersections.

In New York, the UN security council held an emergency debate about the crisis. The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, told the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, in a telephone call that the massive campaign would continue until the Hizbullah was neutralised.

Today, Lebanese militants fired a barrage of at least 50 Katyusha rockets into northern Israeli towns; around 150 rockets were fired yesterday, killing two Israelis.

Hundreds of thousands of Israelis were advised this morning to stock up on essential supplies before returning to their bomb shelters by noon.

Diplomatic pressure around the conflict was stepped up when Israel's UN ambassador named Syria and Iran as the backers of Hizbullah and Hamas. The Finnish foreign minister, Erkki Tuomioja, warned that the violence risked dragging in Syria, which ruled Lebanon as a puppet state until it withdrew troops last year and still has the support of the Lebanese president, Emile Lahoud.

The crisis in the north has completely overshadowed the situation in Gaza, where the Israeli corporal Gilad Shalit remains a captive of Hamas and the already desperate living conditions of Gazans continue to deteriorate.