Annan, Blair call for peacekeepers in Mideast

But discussions about creating a new UN force were still at preliminary stages, diplomats said, as casualties continued to mount and a cease-fire seemed a remote hope for those caught in the violence on both sides of the border.

By last night, after six days of fighting, 209 Lebanese had been reported killed. Lebanese officials said nine civilians, including two children, died in an Israeli airstrike on a bridge near the southern port city of Sidon. The conflict has killed 24 Israelis, half of them civilian victims of Hezbollah rockets fired from Lebanon.

The conflict, sparked when Hezbollah captured two Israeli soldiers in a deadly cross-border raid in northern Israel, has driven tens of thousands to flee southern Lebanon, Beirut, and northern Israel, and raised fears of broader regional conflict as Israel blames Hezbollah backers Iran and Syria for fomenting violence. Israel has launched waves of bombardments in south Beirut and southern Lebanon and an air and sea blockade of the country, while Hezbollah has fired daily barrages of rockets into northern Israel.

The Lebanese government, which says it has no control over Hezbollah, has called for a cease-fire. Yesterday, Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, while visiting Damascus, called for a cease-fire and a prisoner swap.

But President Bush has consistently backed Israel's declaration that a cease-fire would be unacceptable if it allowed Hezbollah to continue operating freely in southern Lebanon. Yesterday, in remarks caught on an open microphone at a summit luncheon in Russia, Bush criticized what he said was Annan's focus on winning a cease-fire, and suggested the UN chief should ask Damascus to rein in Hezbollah.

In a passionate speech to the Knesset, Israel's parliament, Ehud Olmert, the Israeli prime minister, adopted Bush's terminology for Iran and Syria, calling them an ``axis of evil."

He said Israel would not stop the fighting in Lebanon until Hezbollah returns the two captives, stops firing at Israel and is expelled from the south, and until the Lebanese Army deploys along the border.

He appeared to back off slightly from his earlier declaration that Hezbollah must be dismantled before the shooting stops, though he did say Israel would insist on the implementation of UN Resolution 1559, which calls for the disarming and dismantling of Lebanese militias, including Hezbollah.

Taking the podium after Olmert, Benjamin Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud parliament bloc, encouraged his political opponent to defy international pressure.

``My friends and I will give you all the backing you need to fend off that pressure and buy the time to finish the job," he said.

Behind the scenes, according to Lebanese officials, Israeli officials issued less stringent demands, saying only that Hezbollah must return the soldiers and pull back from the border.

Mohammed Kabbani, a veteran member of parliament with the reformist bloc led by Saad Hariri, said he had hopes that a cease-fire could be achieved in a few days.

He said that different solutions were being discussed. Hezbollah could turn over the Israeli soldiers to the Lebanese government, he said, or Israel might stop bombing but maintain the blockade of Lebanon's borders.

``The political solution is being cooked," Kabbani said in an interview. ``What we're seeing now is a change in Israel's political ceiling. The more time passes, the more pressure will be put on both sides."

President Vladimir Putin of Russia and officials from the European Union said they would consider sending troops to a multinational force for southern Lebanon.

A UN envoy visiting Lebanon said there were ``promising first efforts" underway, but that ``much diplomatic work needs to be done."

The envoy, Annan's special representative Vijay Nambiar, said that he would bring specific proposals to Israeli officials in a visit scheduled for today.

John Bolton, the US ambassador to the UN, expressed skepticism about adding a new UN force to southern Lebanon or expanding the role of the one that has operated there since Israel pulled out in 2000 after an 18-year occupation.

``Would such a force be empowered to deal with the real problem -- Hezbollah?" Bolton asked. ``Would such a force be empowered to disarm and demobilize Hezbollah? Would it be empowered to deal with Syria and Iran that support Hezbollah?"

The crisis has also shaken up Arab diplomatic relations. Some Arab governments that have traditionally been reluctant to criticize any group fighting Israel came out with surprisingly strong statements against Hezbollah.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, at an emergency meeting of the Arab League on Saturday, accused Hezbollah of ``unexpected, inappropriate, and irresponsible acts."

There were signs yesterday that the crisis -- coupled with three weeks of Israeli military operations in Gaza to rescue another soldier captured by militants from the ruling party Hamas three weeks ago -- could reignite violence elsewhere between Israelis and Palestinians.

Yesterday, police in Jerusalem stopped a Palestinian carrying a bomb who said he was on the way to carry out an attack. Palestinian militants also attacked Israeli soldiers in the West Bank town of Nablus, killing one.

Israeli jets continued to hammer Lebanese infrastructure, setting Beirut's port on fire and hitting Hezbollah strongholds. The military also said it hit an Iranian missile capable of being fired into Israel.

A low cloud of smoke hung over southern Beirut all day, as the Israeli assault on Shi'ite neighborhoods continued. Residents said that Hezbollah was supporting the inhabitants by delivering water tanks and opening schools for refugees and children, while the central government was nowhere to be seen.

Bombs fell as Ali Hammoud, 37, surveyed the rubble on the street in front of his telephone call center in southern Beirut. ``Hezbollah is the only one that protects us, that shows that Israel does not rule the world," he said.

Hezbollah rockets hit the town of Atlit, 35 miles south of the border, the deepest strike yet into Israel. Rockets also hit a hospital in Safed, landed on a half-dozen other northern towns, and forced the shutdown of the Haifa port, Israel's largest. No Israeli deaths were reported.

In Haifa, one rocket collapsed part of a three-story building, bringing down the upper floors and leaving furniture and carpets hanging precariously in the air, and shooting masonry blocks 100 yards down the street.

``There was a huge boom and we saw the building fall down," said Dima Lusov, 19, who was walking down the street with a friend when the rocket struck.

``We might have been killed by these," he said, holding out a handful of the lethal steel ball-bearings that sprayed the area like high-velocity bullets.

His friend Dima Tabakin, also 19, said the Haifa residents were not scared and would not abandon the city.

``It's fate," said Tabakin. ``If it would have been our fate, we would have been hit."

Thanassis Cambanis of the Globe staff contributed to this report from Beirut. Globe correspondents Matthew Kalman and Joe Lauria contributed from Haifa and the United Nations.