08/05/2006

Read more NBC Nightly News coverage of the conflict in the Middle East.

Below is an excerpt of a report from NBC Nightly News:

JOHN SEIGENTHALER, anchor: As fighting rages in the Middle East between Hezbollah and Israel, tonight at the United Nations, a new effort to end the violence. So far it's all talk, and on the ground, more people are dying. Here's the latest we have tonight. The US and France have drafted a resolution for a permanent cease-fire, presented this afternoon to the full Security Council. A vote is expected within days.

Meanwhile, Israel and Hezbollah intensified attacks. Israeli air strikes hit Lebanon's port city of Tyre, as commandos made their first raid on that city.

And scores of Hezbollah rockets rained down on northern Israel. Three people were reported killed in the barrages that slammed into Haifa and its suburbs. We have complete coverage of the story tonight, beginning with NBC's Martin Savidge in Beirut. Martin:

MARTIN SAVIDGE reporting: Good evening, John. Despite the talk of a possible cease-fire agreement, there was no evidence of that in Lebanon today where as many as eight people were killed in fighting. Most of them were civilians. And tonight, there are new fears of more attacks to come.

In southern Lebanon, flares broke the darkness, and gunfire broke the silence. Israeli commandos landed in the heart of the coastal city of Tyre, seeking Hezbollah leaders which defense officials said were behind long-range missile strikes on Israel. For many of Tyre's current residents, having fled the fighting in neighboring towns, it was another reminder that even a city offers little security.

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Ms. SARAH MARTIN (Refugees International): We could end up having hundreds of thousands of people stuck in the city without any assistance or international help.

SAVIDGE: More and more, those in Lebanon wishing to run are finding fewer and fewer places to go.

Tonight, Hezbollah reiterated its stance that it will stop fighting when Israel stops fighting. Hezbollah also demanded that every Israeli soldier in Lebanon leave.

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