DAMASCUS (AP) — The United Nations and Britain urged the deployment of peacekeepers in Lebanon and Russia offered troops for any such force, as the UN dispatched an envoy to Israel on Monday in the first big swirl of diplomatic efforts to stem the Mideast violence.

BEIRUT — Israel’s assault on Lebanon threatens to weaken Arab moderates throughout the region, bolstering the image of Islamic fighters at a time when anger among the Arab public is running high over the “war on terror” and America’s role in Iraq.

ISRAELI AIR STRIKES killed 42 people across Lebanon on Monday, including 10 civilians hit on a southern bridge, on the sixth day of a bombardment that has wreaked the heaviest destruction in Lebanon for over 20 years.