GWEN IFILL: Good evening. I'm Gwen Ifill. Jim Lehrer is away.
On the NewsHour tonight, the news of this Monday. Then, shuttle diplomacy and durable solutions. Is it working? The U.S. policy role in the Middle East crisis.
Meanwhile, violence continues to spike in Iraq. We get an update from Borzou Daragahi of the Los Angeles Times. The House votes to raise the minimum wage and cut the estate tax. Will the Senate make any of it law? A look at the pre-recess Congress. And part two of a Health Unit report on the battle against Alzheimer's.
GWEN IFILL: Israel called off some of its air operations over Lebanon today, but its leaders insisted the campaign against Hezbollah will go on, despite a deadly attack on Sunday. It happened in south Lebanon, when an air strike hit the town of Qana. Up to 60 people were killed, including at least 34 children and 12 women.
Israeli leaders voiced deep regret for the killings and insisted the civilians were being used as human shields. The military released video said to be of Hezbollah rockets being fired from the town last week. It said the air strike was aimed at those rocket launchers.
BRIG. GEN. IDO NEHUSHTAN, Intelligence Chief, Israeli Air Force: This is a very different warfare. There is no battlefield; there is no front line. The enemy doesn't have any warplanes, warships, or tanks, or divisions, or facilities. It's missiles that have been launched from within civilian populations against our own civilian population.
GWEN IFILL: Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed today there would be no overall cease-fire until Hezbollah frees two captured Israeli soldiers. The Israelis did promise to halt some air operations for 48 hours, but they carried out other strikes to support ground troops.
We have a report on the Israeli side from John Irvine of Independent Television News.
JOHN IRVINE, ITV News Correspondent: The 48-hour suspension of air strikes is conditional. And where we were today, clearly the conditions did not apply. These bombs were dropped in support of soldiers battling Hezbollah guerillas just across the border.
Early yesterday, through a night-vision lens, we saw this latest Israeli operation begin. They sent rockets and shells into enemy positions, but Hezbollah remains undefeated here. An Israeli armored column being ambushed. There were two big explosions, but amazingly the crews were able to walk away.
The Israeli army are laying down this smoke screen inside Lebanon because they're trying to get a look at one or two stricken tanks, which were hit by Hezbollah afar earlier today.
We managed to get a close-up look at the damage sustained by one of the tanks. Nearby, this bunker is now the office of the local mayor. I asked him for up-to-date details on the scourge that keeps him under ground.
How many Hezbollah Katyusha missiles have landed here in the last 24 hours? How many?
KOBI KATZ, Mayor of Metula: We don't like to talk about numbers on television.
JOHN IRVINE: But it's a lot?
KOBI KATZ: What can we do? We try to stop it.
JOHN IRVINE: Hezbollah shells and missiles have been daily problem around this town for almost three weeks now. A terrifying random weapon, they make everyday life impossible.
GWEN IFILL: Hezbollah fired 157 rockets into Israel on Sunday, the heaviest barrage yet. Today, there were none, but the militia group offered no explanation.
Across south Lebanon today, the Israeli bombing pause lasted long enough to allow thousands of people to flee. It also allowed journalists to get into heavily damaged towns. We have this report from Julian Manyon of Independent Television News.
JULIAN MANYON, ITV News Correspondent: Close to physical collapse, survivors struggle through the rubble of Bint Jbail. For 12 days, they've been trapped by heavy fighting. They are hungry and desperately thirsty.
Today, journalists became emergency workers, carrying the survivors out. Many Lebanese ambulance crews refuse to come to the town.
Some of the survivors were the older and infirm who'd been unable to flee. They found themselves hiding in terror while Hezbollah guerrillas battled Israeli soldiers in the hills outside the town and even in the streets.
These people walked for miles to get out of Bint Jbail.
BINT JBAIL RESIDENT: There's no Bint Jbail anymore. All Bint Jbail is gone.
JULIAN MANYON: It was in Bint Jbail last week that Hezbollah inflicted a serious reverse on the Israeli army, killing eight soldiers in a single ambush.
Already there is terrible destruction all across south Lebanon that will take years to repair. We drove for miles down deserted roads past great piles of rubble left by Israeli air strikes.
Lebanese have been praying that yesterday's tragedy at the bombed house in Qana would force an end to the Israeli assault. We drove onto the town of Serifa. Horrifying reports have been coming from there that journalists have so far been unable to get to the town because of the intensity of the Israeli air attacks.
We found a whole district smashed by bombs. Several defense workers told us that for 10 days the bodies of more than 30 people have been lying beneath the wreckage. Fear of air strikes has prevented any attempt to dig them out.
GWEN IFILL: U.N. officials said today access for aid convoys into south Lebanon has not yet improved. They said they're still trying to work out security arrangements with the Israeli military.
The Israeli attack on Qana brought new demands today for an immediate cease-fire. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak warned the entire Middle East peace effort could collapse unless the fighting stops.
In Miami, President Bush conceded the pressure on Israel is growing, but he insisted again any cease-fire must be part of a broader security agreement. Secretary of State Rice talked up that prospect as she left Israel today.
CONDOLEEZZA RICE, U.S. Secretary of State: We will call for United Nations Security Council actions this week on a comprehensive settlement that includes three parts: a cease-fire; the political principles that provide for a long-term settlement; and the authorization of an international force to support the Lebanese army in keeping the peace.
GWEN IFILL: Today, the United Nations Security Council authorized its observer force in south Lebanon to stay there one more month.
And in the U.S. Senate, Republican Chuck Hagel of Nebraska said support for Israel's campaign is hurting the U.S. in the Middle East. He said, "This madness must stop." We'll have more on the Middle East right after this news summary.
In Iraq today, gunmen kidnapped more than two dozen people in a mostly Shiite neighborhood in Baghdad. Attacks elsewhere killed 30 others.
And the migration ministry reported sectarian violence there has displaced more than 182,000 people since February. That's when a Shiite shrine was bombed, triggering a wave of killings. We'll have more on Iraq later in the program tonight.
NATO troops took command of southern Afghanistan today; 8,000 British, Canadian and Dutch forces will try to secure six provinces where Taliban fighters and warlords have stepped up attacks this year. The U.S.-led coalition transferred control during a handover ceremony today outside the city of Kandahar. The coalition will now focus on eastern Afghanistan.
The U.N. Security Council today gave Iran until August 31st to halt uranium enrichment or face economic and diplomatic sanctions. The council resolution was weaker than the U.S. initially wanted; it requires more talks before sanctions are actually approved.
Still, U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said the council's permanent members sent Iran a strong signal.
JOHN BOLTON, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations: They can either choose the route of cooperation and take up the very generous offer made by the Perm-5 plus Germany, in which case one route is open to them, or they can choose not to, in which case we will be back here in a month looking at a sanctions resolution. So the ball is now clearly in Iran's court; the choice is up to them, and the clock has begun to tick.
GWEN IFILL: Iran had failed to respond formally to the incentives package offered in June. Today, it quickly rejected this latest resolution.
Citizens protesting Mexico's presidential election shut down the capital's financial district today. They were supporters of the leftist candidate, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. He finished less than a percentage point behind ruling party candidate Felipe Calderon in the July 2nd vote.
Today, demonstrators set up make-shift camps in the heart of Mexico City. They insisted they won't leave until there's a recount.
The Food and Drug Administration reversed itself today on over-the-counter sales of Plan B, the morning-after birth control pill. The agency said it will work with the manufacturer to approve sales to women 18 and older. Right now, Plan B is available by prescription only. A year ago, the FDA postponed any decision, citing concerns about how to enforce an age limit.
Natural gas prices jumped 14 percent higher today, as a heat wave drove demands for electricity in the Midwest and Northeast. The news sent stocks lower on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 34 points to close at 11,185. The Nasdaq fell more than two points to close at 2,091.
That's it for the news summary tonight. Now, the U.S. role in the Middle East; the escalating violence in Iraq; wages and taxes in the House; and battling Alzheimer's.
