INTENSE ISRAELI BOMBARDMENT KILLED 13 PEOPLE IN LEBANON ON FRIDAY, WHILE U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE CONDOLEEZZA RICE SAID SHE WOULD RETURN TO THE REGION ONLY WHEN THE TIME WAS RIGHT FOR A LASTING SOLUTION TO THE CRISIS, REUTERS REPORTED. WARPLANES REPEATEDLY BOMBED HILL VILLAGES NEAR THE SOUTHERN PORT OF TYRE AND HUNDREDS OF ARTILLERY ROUNDS CRASHED ACROSS THE BORDER FROM ISRAEL, KILLING 10 PEOPLE, INCLUDING A JORDANIAN. THREE PEOPLE DIED IN AIR STRIKES IN THE EASTERN BEKAA VALLEY, LEBANESE SECURITY SOURCES SAID. FIGHTING ERUPTED NEAR THE SOUTHERN TOWN OF BINT JBEIL AND THE NEARBY BORDER VILLAGE OF MAROUN AL-RAS WHEN HIZBOLLAH FIGHTERS ATTACKED ISRAELI POSITIONS IN THE AREA, THEY SAID. RICE, WHO HAD BEEN DUE TO END A VISIT TO MALAYSIA ON FRIDAY, DELAYED HER DEPARTURE WITHOUT SAYING WHY. HER CHANGE OF PLAN SUGGESTED THERE HAD BEEN NO BREAKTHROUGH IN EFFORTS TO HALT A CONFLICT THAT HAS KILLED 458 PEOPLE IN LEBANON AND 51 ISRAELIS. "I AM GOING TO RETURN TO THE MIDDLE EAST. THE QUESTION IS WHEN IS IT RIGHT FOR ME TO RETURN TO THE MIDDLE EAST," SHE SAID. FRANCE CALLED AGAIN FOR THE UNITED NATIONS TO DEMAND AN IMMEDIATE CEASEFIRE.
