Developments Tuesday in the Middle East:
• Israeli troops sealed off the Hezbollah stronghold of Bint Jbail in fierce fighting in south Lebanon, and warplanes killed six people in the market city of Nabatiyeh. Beirut was pounded by new airstrikes.
• At least 40 rockets were fired at northern Israel, and a teenage girl was killed and three other people were injured in the Israeli Arab town of Maghar. One rocket fired at Haifa hit a bus, another hit a house and two reportedly struck close to a hospital, injuring five people, witnesses and doctors said.
• A senior Israeli army commander said Israel would only encircle Lebanese towns and villages near the border and did not plan a deeper push into the country. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel has the stamina for "a long struggle" and is determined to defeat Hezbollah.
• President Bush, appearing with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki at the White House, expressed concern for the civilians killed and harmed by Israeli bombs, but stopped short of calling for an immediate cease-fire that might not last.
• Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, after meeting separately with Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, declared the United States wants an "urgent and enduring" peace where problems are solved without war. "It is time for a new Middle East," she said.
• The first shipment of American aid for Lebanon arrived in Beirut, and Israel promised to open vital safe passages as humanitarian groups pushed more convoys of supplies to tens of thousands in the south.
• Hundreds of Americans and Russians were feared stranded in the heart of Lebanon's war zone after a ship evacuating foreign nationals from the area left the hard-hit southern port of Tyre on Monday evening.
• Jordan's foreign minister said Arabs meeting in Rome on Wednesday will insist on an immediate cease-fire and for the Lebanese government to take control over Hezbollah. Saudi King Abdullah appealed to the world to stop the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, saying that if peace moves fail, the Middle East could be engulfed in war.
• Germany's defense minister said a cease-fire must be in place before an international mission to Lebanon can be contemplated. An official in Turkey, NATO's only Muslim member, said it would consider playing a major role in a peacekeeping force.
• A top Hamas official in Syria said Israeli soldiers held by Hamas and Hezbollah will only be released as part of a prisoner swap.
• Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad warned that the conflict could trigger "a hurricane" of broader fighting in the Middle East.