Israel Massing Troops Along Lebanese Border for Possible Ground Invasion; Lebanese President Vows Country Will Defend Itself Against Israeli Ground Invasion; President Bush, Condoleezza Rice to Meet With Saudi Officials; Haifa Residents Jolted by Rocket Attacks
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Ali, thanks. To our viewers, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM, where new pictures and information are arriving all the time. Standing by, CNN reporters across the United States and around the world to bring you today's top stories. Happening now, it's 11:00 p.m. in Israel and Lebanon where Israeli troops and tanks are now massed along the Lebanese border. Is the start of a full-fledged ground war between Israel and Hezbollah? It's 4:00 p.m. here in Washington, where Condoleezza Rice warns against an immediate cease-fire and says she's looking for a lasting peace. This as the secretary of state packs for a diplomatic mission to the Middle East. And it's midnight in Baghdad, where there's been absolutely no let up in another deadly conflict in the region. Iraqis suffering through one of the bloodiest weeks since the fall of Saddam Hussein. I'm Wolf Blitzer, you're in THE SITUATION ROOM. Day 10 of open warfare between Israel and Hezbollah and critical new developments in the story today. There's now open talk of a possible full scale Israeli invasion of southern Lebanon. Israel is calling up thousands of reserve troops and massing them along the Lebanese border. And Lebanon's president says his army is ready to defend against the ground invasion. Meanwhile Hezbollah rockets are falling on towns in northern Israel once again today, injuring at least 19 people earlier in the day in Haifa. Israeli officials say 34 people have been killed in the 10 days of fighting. Israel is responding with new air strikes on targets inside Lebanon. The Israeli Defense Forces report at least 40 such strikes in the last few hours alone. Lebanese officials say 261 people have been killed in the fighting in Lebanon. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she will leave Sunday for the Middle East to meet with key players. But she says she won't be pursuing an immediate cease-fire. She calls that, quote, a false promise. We're covering all angles of the story with reporters in all of the key locations. Standing by live in this hour for us in all of those locations. Ed Henry, standing by at the White House. Ben Wedeman is in Beirut. Christiane Amanpour is in northern Israel. Andrea Koppel is on Capitol Hill. Let's begin in northern Israel with Christiane. Christiane what happened today?</s>CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well Wolf, coupled with the idea that Condoleezza Rice is coming to the Middle East and is allowing this green light to continue, in other words hoping that Israel will do most of the work against Hezbollah before the proper diplomacy can actually get under way. Israeli forces and military leaders are extremely conspicuous now about what they're talking about being a potential ground invasion. What they're saying is that they have called up all of the reserves. They've called up all the active duties. They're moving active duties from certain areas, replacing them with reserves. Moving everybody, as they said to us today, the deputy commander of the northern command, moving all of the power towards Lebanon and towards this border. They already say that they have a ground operation under way. Although, the general wouldn't be drawn publicly on the exact number of troops. He told, other military sources told us that there was several battalions already operating inside Lebanon on a daily basis, going in and out, some staying, some one mile in, some a few miles in, and special forces even deeper inside. They're dropping leaflets. They're telling the residents of southern Lebanon to move back, presumably back beyond what is known as the Litani river, which is a sort of de facto border between southern Lebanon and the rest of Lebanon. It's about 40 kilometers, 25 miles away from the Israeli border. So, the push to move Hezbollah and disarm it is continuing, Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Christiane, you said that the Israelis have called up all of their reserves? I had heard they called up significant numbers, but not necessary all of the reserves, because that would be a mobilization, virtually, of every man over the age of 18.</s>AMANPOUR: That's right, they're calling up significant numbers. They told us, lots and lots of reserves are coming in and they're going, for instance, here's a scenario, they're bringing reservists to go over to the West Bank to relieve some of the active duty troops there, so that those active duty troops can come over to Lebanon. Other reservists are being mobilized here to the Lebanese border. So they're moving their troops around and trying to get, as they said, the maximum power, all concentrated on the Lebanese border here. But it's a very conspicuous declaration. It's a very, you know, public warning. It's not like they're doing this is in secret. We're getting lots of pictures of this mobilization. So I'm sure a lot of it is also to send a message to the other side.</s>BLITZER: And that message to Hezbollah being, get ready, the Israeli forces are coming in with their tanks, and their armor and their heavy equipment. That would be a powerful message if they want to see the Hezbollah forces scatter, if you will, and try take advantage of that.</s>AMANPOUR: Potentially, yes. They've already been in, as I say, in and out. And they say they have to go in to engage and to find some of the things that they just can't see from the air. For instance, bunkers. They told us, the general told quite a vivid story about how the ground troops were in there and it took, you know, several passes over one particular area before they moved some leaves, and brush and undergrowth and actually found a bunker, according to the general. In other words, illustrating that they cannot get the things that they want to get, the important things, many of them by air power alone and it will take some kind of ground operation, as I say, that is already under way. The question is, will there be a mass invasion of the country.</s>BLITZER: We're going to watch together with you, Christiane. Thank you very much. Christiane will be back in THE SITUATION ROOM. Let's go to Beirut now, the Lebanese president there vowing his country will defend itself against an Israeli ground invasion. Ben Wedeman is on the scene for us. Update our viewers Ben, what has happened in the Lebanese capital today?</s>BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, actually, Beirut has been relatively quiet. No reported Israeli bombardment of the Lebanese capital. Much of the action has taken place down in the south where Israeli aircraft and artillery have been very busy, especially around the area of Tyre, which is the largest Lebanese city near to the Israeli border. The residents there bracing for, as we've all heard, a potential Israeli ground invasion. Now, on the question of the ground invasion, Lebanese President Emil LaHood told CNN today that if Israeli forces enter Lebanon, the army, the Lebanese army will join the fight.</s>EMIL LAHOOD, PRESIDENT OF LEBANON: Of course, the army is going to defend its land. And inside Lebanon, they can do a lot. They cannot be strong enough to be against Israel on the frontier, because they have much more stronger material and weaponry. But inside Lebanon they know the land and of course they would fight the invading force of Israel if it tries to come inside.</s>WEDEMAN: And of course, while everybody is bracing for this potential ground invasion, the Lebanese and international relief organizations are busy to try to deal with the more than 500,000 people who have been displaced by the fighting in the south, and bombing of Beirut. Now, today, I was in a village on the mountains outside of Beirut. Normally the population there is 5,000. It's now almost 50,000. Local officials telling me that because of this sudden influx of people, for instance, the local reservoir has gone dry, so they have to truck in water from elsewhere. In Lebanon, Mercy Corps and International Relief Organization was up there today distributing food to some of these people who are living in private houses, in schools and government buildings and in hotels. Now, outside one hotel we went to, we encountered a large group of angry refugees. When they found out we were American journalists, they became very agitated. I tried to calm the group down, speaking to them in Arabic, trying to discuss the situation. However, at one point one man came barreling out of the crowd trying to beat me and my cameraman. So Wolf, the mood here is getting very resentful against the United States. Many people say the United States has given Israel the green light for its operations, that it's given Israel the weaponry to make this offensive possible. So the mood is turning rather sour and ugly.</s>BLITZER: All right, just be careful over there Ben, you and all of our colleagues. Ben Wedeman on the scene for us in Beirut. President Bush and Condoleezza Rice will meet with Saudi officials, including the foreign minister this Sunday at the White House before the secretary of state heads to the Middle East. Let's go to the White House. Our correspondent Ed Henry has the latest details, Ed.</s>ED HENRY, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Wolf the urgency increasing here at the White House. As you noted, a late add to the president's schedule for Sunday, when he returns from a weekend at his Texas ranch. He and Secretary Rice will be here at the White House on Sunday, meeting with the Saudi foreign minister as well as the head of the Saudi national security council, Prince Bandar. Then Secretary Rice, later on Sunday will leave for Israel and the West Bank. She's going to be meeting with the Israeli Prime Minister Olmert as well as the Palestinian President Abbas, as well as a stop in Rome for a summit with various Arab officials. The White House is engaged in a real balancing act here. On one hand, they're really stepping up their efforts, amid criticism they have not move quickly enough to try to help end the violence, but on the other hand, they're also trying to downplay expectations. They know Secretary Rice can not just head to the Middle East and wave some sort of a magic wand. Here's Secretary Rice responding to critics who said this shuttle diplomacy would have started a lot sooner.</s>CONDOLEEZZA RICE, SECRETARY OF STATE: I could have gotten a plane and rushed over and started shuttling, and it wouldn't have been clear what I was shuttling to do.</s>HENRY: Now, of course, Secretary Rice mindful that her trip will only raise hopes of some sort of peace deal coming out of it. She quickly tried to tamp down those expectations, noting that there will not be what she called a quick fix from this trip. And despite growing to -- for the U.S. to support a cease-fire, she quickly dismissed that idea.</s>RICE: Any cease-fire cannot allow that condition to remain. Because I can guarantee you, if you simply look for a cease-fire that acknowledges and freezes the status quo ante, we will be back here in six months again, or in five months, nine months or in a year, trying to get another cease-fire because Hezbollah will have decided yet again to try and use Southern Lebanon as a sanctuary to fire against Israel.</s>HENRY: Now, the secretary said that there would need to be what she called a robust international peacekeeping force at some point on the ground in Lebanon, but she also said she does not anticipate that there while be U.S. boots on the ground needed in that peacekeeping effort. Also, in a preview what she can expect from her trip, she once again put the onus on Syria, saying they have a clear choice here; they're either going to side with extremists like Hezbollah or they're going to join what she's calling a new Middle East -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: It's going to be a hectic several days for the secretary of state, maybe much longer. Thank you for that. Ed Henry at the White House. Meanwhile a fresh barrage of Hezbollah rockets hit northern Israel, injuring at least 19 people in Haifa. Let's go live to Haifa. CNN's Fionnuala Sweeney is joining with more on this part of the story.</s>FIONNUALA SWEENEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, indeed, Wolf. Five times they heard those air raid sires wailing across this city, shortly followed by five barrages of attacks, maybe three, four, five, Katyusha rockets, depending on what time of the day it was, and when those rockets fell. Thirty-nine people injured in all, three of them critically. And in fact, there were attacks not just in Haifa, Wolf, but across the whole northern band of Israel. And a reminder to the Israeli army, which acknowledged earlier today the difficulty of the challenge facing them as they tried to cripple, as they put it, Hezbollah in Southern Lebanon. According to the Israeli military, they say the difficulty lies because there is no front line as such, and every time they destroy one particular target, another one surfaces, which they feel they then have to destroy. But as I say here, it's now the Jewish Sabbath. It's just after 11:00 at night. All has been quiet for the last number of hours, and really Israelis have been lulled into a rather false sense of security, if that can be the right description, after a barrage of rockets over the last nine days or so. There hadn't been a rocket attack here for two or three days, and this series of rocket barrages really jolting people and getting everybody off the street -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Fionnuala, thank you very much. Fionnuala Sweeney in Haifa for us, where the residents clearly were jolted earlier today. Let's go to Capitol Hill right now, where a House delegation is getting ready to leave for the Middle East, even as some Democrats now are criticizing the Bush administration's response to this crisis. Andrea Koppel, our congressional correspondent, is standing by with this part of the story -- Andrea.</s>ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, in an interview with CNN, one of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's top Democrats, Connecticut's Chris Dodd, complained that for the last ten days, the Bush administration has been sitting on the sidelines, in his opinion. And he said during her trip to the region next week, Secretary Rice must -- in his words -- must engage with key players like Syria.</s>SEN. CHRIS DODD (D), CONNECTICUT: I was in Lebanon in April. I wanted to go to Asir (ph), I wanted to meet Lahoud in Lebanon. I was specifically asked by the administration not to even talk to these people.</s>KOPPEL: Not to talk to the Lebanese?</s>DODD: Not to talk to Lahoud, the president of the country. I agreed with it. If that's what they wanted me to do, I said fine. I didn't understand it. I said, I think it's a crazy idea not to be talking, carrying a message about our concerns to them. So that avoidance of any contact by anyone...</s>KOPPEL: Including Syria.</s>DODD: ... including Syria, I think has been a huge mistake. Somehow we're going to punish them for things they're doing wrong. You don't -- you know, when you're dealing with people like that, you have to engage them. That's what every administration has done for decades.</s>KOPPEL: Dodd also said that he hopes Rice will stay in the region for a while, Wolf, in order to diffuse the crisis -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Andrea, thank you very much. This Sunday, by the way, we'll hear more from Chris Dodd and Richard Lugar, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee. Both of them will join me on "LATE EDITION." That airs this Sunday, 11:00 a.m. Eastern. Jack Cafferty is in New York with "The Cafferty File." Hi, Jack.</s>JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, Wolf, just -- I'm getting some feedback in my IFB -- just what a wartorn region needs. We've got a bunch of U.S. politicians on their way over there to assess the situation. House Speaker Dennis Hastert announced yesterday that he's a bipartisan congressional delegation to Israel this weekend. The group will be led by Intelligence Committee chairman Peter Hoekstra. Joining him, Democrat Jane Harman, Republicans Rick Renzi, Darrell Issa. Hastert says they will bring the message that the U.S. stands by Israel in the fight against terrorism. They're scheduled to meet with American, Israeli and Palestinian officials about the ongoing conflict, and to talk about ways to end the crisis. Here's the question, then. Is it a good idea for a congressional delegation to go to the Middle East? E-mail your thoughts to CaffertyFile@CNN.com or go to CNN.com/CaffertyFile -- Wolf.</s>BLITZER: Jack, thank you very much. Two of those members of the delegation also will be joining us on "LATE EDITION," Jane Harman and Peter Hoekstra, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee. Both of them will be on "LATE EDITION" from Jerusalem this Sunday, 11:00 a.m. Eastern. Coming up, will the fighting in Lebanon have a political impact back here in Washington? And out on the campaign trail, Bill Schneider is standing by with that story. Plus, is an international peacekeeping force crucial to ending this crisis? I'll spoke with a top U.N. diplomat just back from the region. And the other very deadly Middle East conflict. Stand by for a report from Baghdad, where Iraqis are suffering through one of the bloodiest weeks since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Much more of our special coverage on the crisis in the Middle East, right after this.