Exchanges of fire continued in the past 24 hours with high intensity throughout the UNIFIL area of operations. Hezbollah fired rockets from various locations. The IDF intensified shelling and aerial bombardment across the south, especially in the areas of: Labouneh - south east of Naqoura; At Tiri in the central sector; and Khiyam in the eastern sector. The IDF has maintained their presence and continued to operate inside Lebanese territory in different areas. It seems that the IDF attempted to make limited advances towards Labouneh, in the area west of Bint Jubayl, towards Qantarah, and in the direction of Khiyam. In Mays al Jabal the IDF demolished ten homes. Read more about UNIFIL's work hampered as Israel denies consent for convoy to move 

Aid agencies and doctors in south Lebanon say there is a growing shortage of medication for chronic diseases, such as diabetes, cancer and AIDS. Unless Israeli-imposed travel restrictions ease, thousands of people receiving treatment will suffer. “Many people remain in the villages near the border, who have been taking treatments for years and now suddenly their supply is cut,” said Hakim Khalji, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) coordinator in the port city of Tyre. MSF is providing medical supplies to people in and around Tyre but is not making deliveries of chronic disease medication to outlying villages because of dangerous conditions created by the conflict. Read more about South lacks medication for chronic diseases 

Doctors are concerned that Hezbollah’s use of ballbearings in many of the rockets fired into northern Israel is increasing the number of casualties: 36 civilians have been killed so far, according to Israeli authorities. “These bullets [ballbearings] cause damaging penetrative injuries,” said Dr Eran Tal-or, the attending physician at the trauma unit in Haifa’s Rambam Hospital. “If the bullet is lodged in the brain, for example, we wouldn’t even try to get it out because we would cause even more damage. And if it cuts a major artery, then you will be dead in no time.” Read more about Hezbollah ballbearing rockets maximise injuries 

Lebanese officials have said that hospitals are threatened with closure as a result of severe fuel shortages nationwide.”Hospitals are currently functioning properly, but their fuel reserve can [only] last for one week,” Lebanese Health Minister Mohammed Khalife told IRIN. Lebanon is tapping into its fuel reserves to supply some hospitals, but the real issue is the difficulty in transporting the fuel around the country, Khalife said. Bombed roads and bridges are making access to some areas of Lebanon almost impossible. With Israel’s Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s threatening on Monday to escalate attacks on infrastructure, the situation has become more critical. Read more about Fuel shortages threaten hospital services 

The United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights today adopted a statement decrying the rights violations taking place in Lebanon and voicing hope that the Security Council will foster an end to the fighting and a lasting solution to the conflict. The Geneva-based body said it was meeting “at a tragic moment when a brutal and barbarous war has already deprived a thousand men, women, and children of their inherent right to life, several thousands have been injured and maimed, and a million innocent people displaced.” Read more about UN Sub-Commission voices outrage at rights violations in Lebanon 

Exchanges of fire continued in the past 24 hours, with a high intensity and throughout the UNIFIL area of operations. Hezbollah fired rockets in large numbers from various locations. The IDF continued shelling and aerial bombardment across the south. The IDF has maintained their presence and continued to operate on Lebanese territory in different areas. There are no reports of significant changes since yesterday in the areas where they are operating. There are reports this morning of intensive ground exchanges in many areas: Bayyadah and Mansuri along the coast and Bint Jubayl and Yarun in the central sector. Read more about Israel continues shelling and aerial bombardments across southern Lebanon 

The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Lebanon, David Shearer, on Monday called on the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) to end its attacks on civilian infrastructure - including bridges, roads, fuel depots, power stations and hospitals - and to cease all actions hindering the supply of humanitarian relief to the hundreds of thousands of displaced people across the country. “We deplore the continuation of Israeli bombardment of civilian infrastructure in Lebanon and call on all parties in this conflict to adhere to their obligations under international humanitarian law with regard to civilians,” Shearer said. Read more about UN calls for end to IDF attacks that hinder relief aid 

As Israel steps up its military offensive into Lebanon, journalists covering the conflict continue to come under fire. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says crews from four Arab television stations told the organisation that on 22 July 2006, Israeli aircraft fired missiles within 75 metres of them to prevent them from covering the effects of Israel’s bombardment of the eastern town of Khiam. The journalists said their convoy of vehicles was chased by Israeli fighter aircraft which fired missiles on the road behind them as they approached a bombed-out bridge. Eventually, the journalists left their vehicles and walked to the village of Hasb Bayah. Read more about Press under fire as Israeli offensive continues 

Lebanese agricultural production, badly affected by the hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, faces a crisis if the conflict does not end soon, according to government officials. “The sector has been hit very badly because all the roads have been hit, there is no possibility to go from one village to another or from the field to the market, and you can’t reach the fields to harvest because there is always bombing and shelling,” said Talal Al-Sahili, the Agriculture Minister. The death of 33 farm workers in the northern Beqaa valley on Friday highlighted the kinds of risks many in the industry face. Read more about Agriculture in peril as war drags on