ALEX THOMSON, ITV News Correspondent: Beirut,
27 days of this now, so Lebanon
is tonight calling up its army reserves for a possible military deployment to
the south to counter the Israeli bombardment. A country stricken, a prime
minister distraught.
FUAD SINIORA, Prime Minister of Lebanon (through
translator): Our Arabism in Lebanon
is unconditional.
ALEX THOMSON: South Lebanon's main city, Tyre, now isolated, cut off from the world by
Israeli air strikes, artillery and naval bombardment which is intensifying all
the time. The ancient souk here all but deserted, a city that's basically fled
in the face of 27 days of warfare, over a thousand now killed. And from the few
that remain here, defiance and anger.
LEBANESE INHABITANT (through translator): I live here because I'm a Palestinian. I'm
not afraid of anything. I'm not afraid of death, not from the English, French,
Germans or Americans. If I die, I die.
ALEX THOMSON: And it has come to this here, aid
organizations, like Medecins Sans Frontieres, forced to bring in aid by human
chain over blown up bridges at great personal risk from Israeli air strikes. Even
as their convoy moved, Israel
bombed in the vicinity.
United Nations' aid desperately needed by civilians here,
also going nowhere, thwarted by yet another blown-up bridge. The Red Cross
unable even to move outside Tyre.
ROLAND HUGUENIN-BENJAMIN, International Committee of the Red
Cross: The symbol or the emblem of the Red Cross should be respected
universally. Of course, when there is intense military action going on between
two parts, we do make sure that we should be notified, that those parties
should be aware of the fact that we are traveling on one particular road on one
particular day.
ALEX THOMSON: Outside the city hospital, this lorry stood
for days containing 35 rotting corpses of women and children massacred at Qana.
There are 80 more bodies in the hospital morgue from other attacks.
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