Israeli troops were reportedly fighting Hezbollah militants in two locations near the border.

CAIRO (AFP) — Israel’s crushing offensive in Lebanon prompted calls by Egyptian opposition groups Wednesday for peace deals with the Jewish state to be revoked and oil and gas exports to be frozen.

CAIRO — Arab governments disagree on who to blame for starting the Middle East violence of the past week but, unlike Israel and the United States, they agree at least that the bombings should end immediately and talks should begin.

TYRE — Ghassan Bourji says he has run out of insulin for his two diabetic children and heart medication for his mother because Israeli bombardment has cut supplies to his village of Rmadiyeh in south Lebanon.

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM — The spectre of Israel sinking into the “quagmire” of Lebanon as when hundreds of troops were killed in 1982 has put an anti-Hizbollah ground offensive on hold, military officials said Wednesday.

BAGHDAD (AFP) — Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Maliki said Wednesday he was looking for ways to end the presence in his country of the Iranian opposition group, the People’s Mujahedeen of Iran.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) — The United States told Iraq’s leaders in stern language on Wednesday they must act swiftly to halt a surge in attacks by both Sunnis and Shiites that the United Nations said risks pitching the nation into civil war.

GENEVA (Reuters) — The scale of killing and maiming of civilians in Lebanon, Israel and the Palestinian territory points to possible war crimes, the United Nations human rights chief said on Wednesday.

GAZA (Reuters) — Israeli troops killed 12 Palestinians in clashes in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank on Wednesday, medics said, including four fighters and two civilians as tanks pushed into a central Gaza refugee camp.

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is trying to hold off international pressure for an immediate halt to the Israeli assault in southern Lebanon, apparently to allow Israel a short window to do as much damage as possible.