Lebanese anti-aircraft guns fired at Israeli warplanes over southern Lebanon on Wednesday, a military spokesman said, indicating that Lebanon’s army is taking a new assertiveness toward Israel.

Vice President Dick Cheney reaffirmed the Bush administration’s commitment to the increasingly unpopular war in Iraq during a visit to a U.S. aircraft carrier Wednesday, saying “the American people will not support a policy of retreat.”

Egyptian border and security authorities have arrested 23 Palestinians and Egyptians in the Sinai region, including one who was wearing an explosives belt and had crossed from Gaza to Egypt in an underground tunnel, security officials said Wednesday.