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GUEST: Ilan Pappe, Professor History at Haifa University, Khatchig Mouradian, a journalist based in Beirut, editor of Aztag newspaper.

Lebanon called for a ceasefire yesterday after Israel’s heaviest offensive against its northern neighbour in 24 years. Israeli warships blockaded the Lebanese coast, while fighter jets bombed the runway at Lebanon’s only international airport, forcing it to close, and bombed two military air bases near Syria. Also bombed were gas stations, a Hezbollah TV station, and the road leading to Damascus. The latest death toll in Lebanon is about 60, and they are mostly civilians. Hundreds have been injured.

Israel says it is responding to the kidnapping of two of its soldiers earlier this week by Hezbollah, and the firing of two rockets into the Israeli town of Haifa yesterday. Hezbollah denies firing the rockets. The assault on Lebanon follows weeks of bombardment of the Gaza strip in Palestine. Meanwhile, President Bush said Israel had a right to defend itself and chastised what he called “a group of terrorists who want to stop the advance of peace.”